title: Structural brain abnormalities in the frontostriatal system and cerebellum in pedophilia.
abstract: Even though previous neuropsychological studies and clinical case reports have suggested an association between pedophilia and frontocortical dysfunction, our knowledge about the neurobiological mechanisms underlying pedophilia is still fragmentary. Specifically, the brain morphology of such disorders has not yet been investigated using MR imaging techniques. Whole brain structural T1-weighted MR images from 18 pedophile patients (9 attracted to males, 9 attracted to females) and 24 healthy age-matched control subjects (12 hetero- and 12 homosexual) from a comparable socioeconomic stratum were processed by using optimized automated voxel-based morphometry within multiple linear regression analyses. Compared to the homosexual and heterosexual control subjects, pedophiles showed decreased gray matter volume in the ventral striatum (also extending into the nucl. accumbens), the orbitofrontal cortex and the cerebellum. These observations further indicate an association between frontostriatal morphometric abnormalities and pedophilia. In this respect these findings may support the hypothesis that there is a shared etiopathological mechanism in all obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Psychiatry, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Virchowstrasse 174, D-45147 Essen, Germany. boris.schiffler@uni-essen.de
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schiffer
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Peschel
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Paul
authors.forename: Elke
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gizewski
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Forsting
authors.forename: Norbert
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Leygraf
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schedlowski
authors.forename: Tillmann H C
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Krueger
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000502:physiology*; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000473:pathology; D009929:Organ Size; D010378:Pedophilia / Q000473:pathology*; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000473:pathology*