Jorge Ponseti1, Oliver Granert2, Thilo Van Eimeren2, Olav Jansen3, Stephan Wolff3, Klaus Beier4, Günther Deuschl2, Christian Huchzermeier1, Aglaja Stirn1, Hartmut Bosinski5, Hartwig Roman Siebner2,6,7. 1. a Institute of Sexual Medicine and Forensic Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Kiel University, Medical School , Kiel , Germany. 2. b Department of Neurology , Kiel University, Medical School , Kiel , Germany. 3. c Department of Radiology and Neuroradiology , Kiel University, Medical School , Kiel , Germany. 4. d Institute of Sexology and Sexual Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin , Berlin , Germany. 5. e Practice for Sexual Medicine , Kiel , Germany. 6. f Danish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance, Copenhagen University Hospital Hvidovre , Hvidovre , Denmark. 7. g Department of Neurology , Copenhagen University Hospital Bispebjerg , Bispebjerg , Denmark.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Objective assessment of sexual preferences may be of relevance in the treatment and prognosis of child sexual offenders. Previous research has indicated that this can be achieved by pattern classification of brain responses to sexual child and adult images. Our recent research showed that human face processing is tuned to sexual age preferences. This observation prompted us to test whether paedophilia can be inferred based on the haemodynamic brain responses to adult and child faces. METHODS: Twenty-four men sexually attracted to prepubescent boys or girls (paedophiles) and 32 men sexually attracted to men or women (teleiophiles) were exposed to images of child and adult, male and female faces during a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) session. RESULTS: A cross-validated, automatic pattern classification algorithm of brain responses to facial stimuli yielded four misclassified participants (three false positives), corresponding to a specificity of 91% and a sensitivity of 95%. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that the functional response to facial stimuli can be reliably used for fMRI-based classification of paedophilia, bypassing the problem of showing child sexual stimuli to paedophiles.
OBJECTIVES: Objective assessment of sexual preferences may be of relevance in the treatment and prognosis of child sexual offenders. Previous research has indicated that this can be achieved by pattern classification of brain responses to sexual child and adult images. Our recent research showed that human face processing is tuned to sexual age preferences. This observation prompted us to test whether paedophilia can be inferred based on the haemodynamic brain responses to adult and child faces. METHODS: Twenty-four men sexually attracted to prepubescent boys or girls (paedophiles) and 32 men sexually attracted to men or women (teleiophiles) were exposed to images of child and adult, male and female faces during a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) session. RESULTS: A cross-validated, automatic pattern classification algorithm of brain responses to facial stimuli yielded four misclassified participants (three false positives), corresponding to a specificity of 91% and a sensitivity of 95%. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that the functional response to facial stimuli can be reliably used for fMRI-based classification of paedophilia, bypassing the problem of showing child sexual stimuli to paedophiles.
Entities:
Keywords:
child sexual offending; fMRI; paedophilia; paraphilia; pattern classification