title: Brain abnormalities in high-risk violent offenders and their association with psychopathic traits and criminal recidivism.
abstract: Measures of psychopathy have been proved to be valuable for risk assessment in violent criminals. However, the neuronal basis of psychopathy and its contribution to the prediction of criminal recidivism is still poorly understood. We compared structural imaging data from 40 male high-risk violent offenders and 37 non-delinquent healthy controls via voxel-based morphometry. Psychopathic traits and risk of violence recidivism were correlated with gray matter volume (GMV) of regions of interest previously shown relevant for criminal behavior. Relative to controls, criminals showed less GMV in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and more GMV in cerebellar regions and basal ganglia structures. Within criminals, we found a negative correlation between prefrontal GMV and psychopathy. Additionally, there was a positive correlation between cerebellar GMV and psychopathy as well as risk of recidivism for violence. Moreover, GMVs of the basal ganglia and supplementary motor area (SMA) were positively correlated with anti-sociality. GMV of the amygdala was negatively correlated with dynamic risk for violence recidivism. In contrast, GMV of (para)limbic areas (orbitofrontal cortex, insula) was positively correlated with anti-sociality and risk of violence recidivism. The current investigation revealed that in violent offenders deviations in GMV of the PFC as well as areas involved in the motor component of impulse control (cerebellum, basal ganglia, SMA) are differentially related to psychopathic traits and the risk of violence recidivism. The results might be valuable for improving existing risk assessment tools.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Psychology, University of Graz, BioTechMedGraz, Universitätsplatz 2/DG, 8010 Graz, Austria. Electronic address: verena.leutgeb@uni-graz.at.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Leutgeb
authors.affiliation: Graz-Karlau State Correctional Facility, Herrgottwiesgasse 50, 8200 Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leitner
authors.affiliation: Clinical Psychology, University of Graz, BioTechMedGraz, Universitätsplatz 2/DG, 8010 Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wabnegger
authors.affiliation: Clinical Psychology, University of Graz, BioTechMedGraz, Universitätsplatz 2/DG, 8010 Graz, Austria; Graz-Karlau State Correctional Facility, Herrgottwiesgasse 50, 8200 Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Klug
authors.affiliation: Clinical Psychology, University of Graz, BioTechMedGraz, Universitätsplatz 2/DG, 8010 Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Scharmüller
authors.affiliation: Clinical Psychology, University of Graz, BioTechMedGraz, Universitätsplatz 2/DG, 8010 Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zussner
authors.affiliation: Clinical Psychology, University of Graz, BioTechMedGraz, Universitätsplatz 2/DG, 8010 Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schienle
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D057237:Criminals; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology
keywords: basal ganglia; cerebellum; gray matter volume; risk assessment; violence