Brain processing of pictures of children in men with pedophilic disorder: A positron emission tomography study

Fonteille, Véronique; Redouté, Jérôme; Lamothe, P.; Straub, Dominique; Lávenne, F.; Bars, Didier Le; Raverot, Véronique; Moulier, Virginie; Marchand, Jean; Vittoz, Aurélie; Leriche, Charlotte; Pugeat, Michel; Stoléru, Serge

doi:10.1016/j.nicl.2018.101647

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Supporting these results, Polisois-Keating and colleagues did not find significant differences between the groups in a meta-analysis with 123 subjects (80). Current research also confirms this view, and adds the idea that the right inferior temporal gyrus might be a possible candidate region mediating sexual arousal in patients with pedophilic disorder (81). Comparing responses in pedophilic outpatients (n = 15) and healthy controls (n = 15) to the presentation of sexually preferred and non-preferred stimuli, two areas in the right temporal gyrus showed increased (BA37) and decreased responses (BA20) in pedophiles.…”

Section: Functional Imaging-functional Magnetic Resonance Imagingsupporting

confidence: 72%

“…Comparing responses in pedophilic outpatients (n = 15) and healthy controls (n = 15) to the presentation of sexually preferred and non-preferred stimuli, two areas in the right temporal gyrus showed increased (BA37) and decreased responses (BA20) in pedophiles. According to the authors, these areas could play an opposite role, i.e., an activating and inhibiting role in sexual arousal (81).…”

Section: Functional Imaging-functional Magnetic Resonance Imagingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Are There Any Biomarkers for Pedophilia and Sexual Child Abuse? A Review

et al. 2020

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The use of biomarkers in medicine is a common and valuable approach in several clinical fields. Understanding the relationship between measurable biological processes and clinical outcomes not only is indispensable in the face of understanding physiological processes in healthy as well as in diseased organisms but also for understanding and evaluating treatment effects. Therefore, also in the context of forensic psychiatry, biomarkers and their potentially beneficial effects are of growing interest. The objective of this review is to examine if there are biomarkers that may serve as a tool to support diagnostic process, treatment evaluation, and risk assessment of pedophilic individuals and child sexual offenders. In the first part, we present an overview of the current neurobiological, as well as physiological and psychophysiological approaches to characterize pedophilia and child sexual offending. Secondly, we discuss and evaluate the impact of these approaches on the development of biomarkers for diagnosis, therapy, and risk assessment in pedophilic subjects and child sexual offenders. We conclude that a lot of research has already enhanced our neurobiological knowledge about pedophilia and child sexual offending. Although there surely exist promising parameters and approaches, in our view currently none of these is ready yet to serve as a clinically applicable diagnostic, response, or predictive biomarker for pedophilia and child sexual offending. Therefore, further work remains to be done. The development of a composite diagnostic biomarker to assess deviant sexual interest, combining several measures like functional magnetic resonance imaging, electroencephalogram, eye tracking, and behavioral approaches seems to be most promising. A valid and reliable measurement of deviant sexual interest, insensitive to manipulations could significantly support clinical diagnostic process. Similarly, regarding therapy evaluation and risk assessment, a composite biomarker to assess inhibitory control functions seems to be promising. Furthermore, the application of the Research Domain Criteria-approach, a new approach for investigating and classifying mental disorders, offers the possibility to take research to a new level.

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Section: Functional Imaging-functional Magnetic Resonance Imagingsupporting

confidence: 72%

Section: Functional Imaging-functional Magnetic Resonance Imagingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are There Any Biomarkers for Pedophilia and Sexual Child Abuse? A Review

et al. 2020

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“…As part of an investigation ancillary to the first study, we performed functional neuroimaging using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) or Positron Emission Tomography (PET) to compare patients and controls on their brain responses to pictures of children and adults. The second study of the PFDAQ included a larger sample ( N = 40 patients, 39 nonclinical controls) and was part of a research project using functional neuroimaging—fMRI or PET—also purporting to compare patients and controls on their brain responses to pictures of children and adults (Cazala et al, 2019; Fonteille et al, 2019). To conduct preliminary validation of the PFDAQ, and because of the small number of participants of study 1, patients and controls of the first study were pooled with their respective counterparts of the second study.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development and Preliminary Validation of the Pedophilic Fantasies, Desires, and Activities Questionnaire

Stoléru

Moulier

Fonteille

2019

Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol

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Although sexual interest in children is a risk factor for recidivism of sexual offenses against children, there is a dearth of measures for assessing its current level in patients with pedophilic disorder. The objective was to develop the Pedophilic Fantasies, Desires, and Activities Questionnaire (PFDAQ) to assess the current level of sexual interest in patients with pedophilic disorder. In total, 57 patients with pedophilic disorder and 53 controls were recruited. In addition to the PFDAQ, participants were presented with other measures of sexual interest. PFDAQ scores were significantly higher in patients than in controls and were correlated with other measures of sexual interest. Three PFDAQ scores were correlated with a phallometric index of preference for children. These results suggest that the PFDAQ may be valid and potentially useful for assessing the current level of pedophilic attraction.

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“…In a similar study during which participants viewed visual sexual stimuli of children or adults, PET imagining indicated that when patients with pedophilia were shown the child stimuli, they exhibited activation in the right inferior temporal gyrus and left middle occipital gyrus, compared with the control group that demonstrated activation of these areas only when shown the adult stimuli (Fonteille et al 2018). Fonteille et al (2018) hypothesized that the right inferior temporal gyrus may serve as a mediator of sexual arousal in the pedophilic group.…”

Section: Functional Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neuroanatomical Differences Among Sexual Offenders: A Targeted Review with Limitations and Implications for Future Directions

Kirk-Provencher

Nelson-Aguiar

Spillane

2020

Violence and Gender

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As sexual assault and child sexual abuse continue to be worldwide public health concerns, research has continued to explore factors associated with sexual offending. Structural and functional neuroanatomical brain differences have been examined in an effort to differentiate sexual offenders and their behavior. This targeted review searched PubMed and Google Scholar for empirical studies using brain imaging techniques to examine possible structural or functional differences among control groups compared with at least one group of sexual offenders with contact offenses. This targeted review summarizes the structural and functional findings of 15 brain imaging studies (i.e., computed tomography, diffusion tensor imaging, magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, and functional magnetic resonance imaging), which suggest possible differences in brain size and gray matter volume, cortical thickness, white matter connectivity, and specific structural and functional differences among brain regions (fronto-temporal region, amygdala, prefrontal cortex, etc.). The methodological limitations of brain imaging studies and the associated findings with regard to sexual offenders are highlighted, as research indicates that many of the proposed differences in brain structure and function are not unique to this population. We further highlight several limitations to using neuroimaging studies to examine this population of interest, including publication bias, small sample size, underpowered studies, and all-male samples. As these results are mixed and findings are not seemingly unique to sexual offenders, we suggest future sexual offender research may benefit from focusing on more financially feasible options, such as neuropsychological assessment approaches, to assess for and attend to offenders' criminogenic and rehabilitative/therapeutic needs in alignment with the risk-need-responsivity model.

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Brain processing of pictures of children in men with pedophilic disorder: A positron emission tomography study

Cited by 8 publications

References 47 publications

Are There Any Biomarkers for Pedophilia and Sexual Child Abuse? A Review

Are There Any Biomarkers for Pedophilia and Sexual Child Abuse? A Review

Development and Preliminary Validation of the Pedophilic Fantasies, Desires, and Activities Questionnaire

Neuroanatomical Differences Among Sexual Offenders: A Targeted Review with Limitations and Implications for Future Directions

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