title: Abnormal white matter integrity in rapists as indicated by diffusion tensor imaging.
abstract: Recent research has documented structural brain abnormalities in various criminal offenders. However, there have been few brain imaging studies of sex offenders, and none on white matter integrity. The current study tested the hypothesis that rapists, when compared to matched controls, would show abnormal cortical and subcortical white matter integrity.
  
  
  
  Rapists showed significantly increased fractional anisotropy in the internal capsul e in the thalamus, caudate, and globus pallidus, and also in white matter tracts near the angular gyrus, posterior cingulate, frontal pole, lateral occipital cortex, and genu compared to controls matched for age, gender, and educational status. Reduced fractional anisotropy was observed in rapists in the posterior cingulum and in the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus.
  
  
  
  To our knowledge, this is the first study indicating white matter abnormalities in rapists. Findings indicate abnormalities in white matter connectivity in brain regions involved in reward/motivation and moral judgment, which may predispose rapists to be both over-responsive to sexual reward stimuli and also to make inappropriate moral decisions.
authors.affiliation: Department and Graduate Institute of Criminology, National Chung Cheng University, Chiayi, 621, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chiao-Yun
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Criminology, Psychiatry, and Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Raine
authors.affiliation: Brain Research Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, 112, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Kun-Hsien
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, 112, Taiwan.
authors.forename: I-Yun
authors.initials: IY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, National Central University, Jhongli, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Daisy
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.affiliation: Brain Research Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, 112, Taiwan. cplin@ym.edu.tw.|Institute of Neuroscience, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, 112, Taiwan. cplin@ym.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Ching-Po
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D057237:Criminals; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D011902:Rape; D066127:White Matter / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*
keywords: Diffusion tensor imaging; Moral judgment; Rapist; Reward; White matter