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Re: Pedophilia patients are found to have deficits in brain activation
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Amber Brown
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Sep 21, 2007 11:00 PDT
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Hey Dr. Murray!
I was excited to see a forward from you. I know I'm not in your class
anymore but I would love to continue to get your fowards abour neurobiology
and articles that you think is interesting! I hope this semester has started
off great for you! I really do miss your class.
Sincerely,
Amber Brown
University of Arkansas
Biological Engineering
arb-@uark.edu
On 9/21/07, Prof. Murray <biol-@mac.com> wrote:
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Pedophilia patients are found to have deficits in brain activation
Philadelphia, PA, September 20, 2007 – Pedophilia, the sexual attraction
of adults to children, is a significant public health concern and it
does not respond well to treatment. Additionally, the brain mechanisms
underlying pedophilia are not well understood. A new study being
published in the September 15th issue of Biological Psychiatry is the
first of its kind to use functional brain imaging to describe neural
circuits contributing to pedophilia.
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, Walter and
colleagues report that pedophilic patients showed reduced activation of
the hypothalamus, a brain region involved in regulating physiologic
arousal and hormone release, as compared to healthy individuals when
they were viewing sexually arousing pictures of adults. Deficits of
activation in the frontal cortex were associated with the extent of
pedophilic behavior. In other words, when shown erotic pictures of
adults, the brains of the pedophilic patients had reduced reactions in
the pleasure center of the brain, indicating an altered sexual interest.
John H. Krystal, M.D., Editor of Biological Psychiatry and affiliated
with both Yale University School of Medicine and the VA Connecticut
Healthcare System, comments that, "the ability to intervene rationally
in this disorder is limited by shortcomings in our understanding of its
neurobiology. The findings provide clues to the complexity of this
disorder, [and] this deficit may predispose individuals who are
vulnerable to pedophilia to seek other forms of stimulation." It is
important to acknowledge and consider however, that it is currently
unknown "whether this pattern of brain activation is a risk factor for
the development of pedophilia or a consequence of their pedophilic
sexual experiences," according to Dr. Krystal, and future research will
be needed.
One of the study's authors, Georg Northoff, M.D., Ph.D., adds, "[These
findings] may open the door for better understanding the neurobiology of
this disorder which is of forensic, criminal and public concern. Our
results may thus be seen as the first step towards establishing a
neurobiology of pedophilia which ultimately may contribute to the
development of new and effective means of therapies for this
debilitating disorder."
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Notes to Editors:
The article is "Pedophilia Is Linked to Reduced Activation in
Hypothalamus and Lateral Prefrontal Cortex During Visual Erotic
Stimulation" by Martin Walter, Joachim Witzel, Christine Wiebking, Udo
Gubka, Michael Rotte, Kolja Schiltz, Felix Bermpohl, Claus Tempelmann,
Bernhard Bogerts, Hans Jochen Heinze, and Georg Northoff. Drs. Walter,
Wiebking, Schiltz, Bogerts and Northoff are with the Department of
Psychiatry, Otto-von-Guericke University of Magdeburg, Germany, while
Drs. Rotte, Tempelmann, and Heinze are with the Department of Neurology.
Drs. Witzel and Gubka are affiliated with the State Hospital for
Forensic Psychiatry of Saxonia Anhaltina, Germany. Dr. Bermpohl is with
the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at Charité Medical
School, University Medicine Berlin, Germany. The article appears in
Biological Psychiatry, Volume 62, Issue 6 (September 15, 2007),
published by Elsevier.
Full text of the article mentioned above is available upon request.
Contact Jayne M. Dawkins at (215) 239-3674 or ja.da-@elsevier.com to
obtain a copy or to schedule an interview.
About Biological Psychiatry
This international rapid-publication journal is the official journal of
the Society of Biological Psychiatry. It covers a broad range of topics
in psychiatric neuroscience and therapeutics. Both basic and clinical
contributions are encouraged from all disciplines and research areas
relevant to the pathophysiology and treatment of major neuropsychiatric
disorders. Full-length and Brief Reports of novel results, Commentaries,
Case Studies of unusual significance, and Correspondence and Comments
judged to be of high impact to the field are published, particularly
those addressing genetic and environmental risk factors, neural
circuitry and neurochemistry, and important new therapeutic approaches.
Concise Reviews and Editorials that focus on topics of current research
and interest are also published rapidly.
Biological Psychiatry (www.sobp.org/journal) is ranked 4th out of the 95
Psychiatry titles and 16th out of 199 Neurosciences titles on the 2006
ISI Journal Citations Reports(r) published by Thomson Scientific.
James A. Murray
Asst. Prof., Department of Biology
156 Lewis Science Center
University of Central Arkansas
Conway, AR 72035
PH: 501-450-5923
FAX: 501-450-5914
EMAIL: jmur-@mail.uca.edu
http://www.uca.edu/divisions/academic/biology/faculty/jmurray.htm
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