Hypothalamic volume in pedophilia with or without child sexual offense.

ABSTRACT: The hypothalamus regulates sexual behavior and is simultaneously associated with aggression and violence. Consequently, this brain region is relevant in research of pedophilia and child sexual offenses (CSO). The distinction between these two phenomena is of great importance and was the object of consideration of this study. We analyzed exclusively men, including 73 pedophilic offenders who committed CSO, an equal number of people with pedophilia but without such offenses, and 133 non-pedophilic, non-offending subjects who formed the control group. All data were collected in a multicenter in vivo study and analyzed using a semi-automated segmentation algorithm for 3-Tesla magnetic resonance images. Men with pedophilia who committed CSO on average had a 47 mm³ smaller hypothalamu

SUBMITTER: Storch M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10449687 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature