Persistent regional frontotemporal hypoactivity in violent offenders at follow-up

Anckarsäter, Henrik; Piechnik, Stefan; Tullberg, Mats; Ziegelitz, Doerthe; Sörman, Maria; Bjellvi, Johan; Karlsson, Erik; Fernandez, Nicolas Vicencio; Wikkelso, Carsten; Forsman, Anders

doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2006.12.008

« Previous Next »Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging
Volume 156, Issue 1 , Pages 87-90, 15 October 2007

Persistent regional frontotemporal hypoactivity in violent offenders at follow-up

Henrik Anckarsäter
- Forensic Psychiatric Clinic, Malmö University Hospital, Lund University, Sweden
- Corresponding author. The Forensic Psychiatric Clinic, Malmö University Hospital, Sege Park 8A, 205 02 Malmö, Sweden. Tel.: +46 40 334031; fax: +46 40 334127.
Stefan Piechnik
- Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg University, Sweden
- Oxford Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Oxford University, UK
Mats Tullberg
- Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg University, Sweden
Doerthe Ziegelitz
- Department of Neuroradiology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg University, Sweden
Maria Sörman
- Department of Forensic Psychiatry, Göteborg, The National Board of Forensic Medicine, Sweden
Johan Bjellvi
- Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg University, Sweden
Erik Karlsson
- Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg University, Sweden
Nicolas Vicencio Fernandez
- Forensic Psychiatric Clinic, Malmö University Hospital, Lund University, Sweden
Carsten Wikkelso
- Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg University, Sweden
Anders Forsman
- Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg University, Sweden
- Department of Forensic Psychiatry, Göteborg, The National Board of Forensic Medicine, Sweden

Received 4 May 2006; received in revised form 29 November 2006; accepted 26 December 2006.

Abstract

Since cross-sectional brain-imaging studies demonstrating frontotemporal cerebral hypoactivity in violent offenders have generally been carried out around the time of trial and sentencing, the findings might be influenced by the stressful situation of the subjects. It seems that no group of offenders with this finding has yet been followed longitudinally. We have re-examined nine offenders convicted of lethal or near-lethal violence in whom single photon emission tomography (SPECT) previously had demonstrated frontotemporal hypoperfusion. The mean interval between the initial and the follow-up examination was 4 years. The initially observed hypoactivity was found to have remained virtually unchanged at follow-up: no mean change in the group exceeded 5% in 12 assessed regions of interest. Although preliminary due to the small sample size, this study suggests that frontotemporal brain hypoactivity is a trait rather than a state in perpetrators of severe violent crimes.

Keywords: Cerebral blood flow, SPECT, Violence, Frontotemporal hypoperfusion, Aggression, Forensic