Characterization of Perpetrators of Domestic Violence

家庭暴力在美国是一个严重的问题。大多数关于家庭暴力病因的研究都侧重于心理社会参数，很少强调生物因素。为了探讨犯罪者表现出的攻击性与恐惧有关的可能性，我们给一组选定的犯罪者注射了恐慌剂乳酸钠。这项研究的结果表明，肇事者表现出更多的乳酸盐引起的恐惧，恐慌和愤怒比非暴力控制。这些结果使我们得出结论，一些家庭暴力的肇事者有一个夸大的恐惧相关的愤怒反应感知到的威胁。我们目前的研究旨在了解犯罪者可能存在哪些异常，这些异常可能导致这些夸大的恐惧相关反应。为此，我们正在进行一些研究。我们对肇事者和对照组进行了详细的精神评估。初步结果表明，肇事者焦虑相关疾病的发病率高于预期。我们获得了脑脊髓液（CSF）的肇事者（ALC-PERP）和没有（PERP）的诊断酒精中毒和健康的对照组。与对照组相比，ALC-PERP具有显著更高的CSF睾酮浓度，并且PERP具有显著更低的CSF 5-羟基吲哚乙酸（5-HIAA）浓度。这些发现导致了以下结论：1）酗酒和不酗酒的肇事者之间可能存在生物学差异; 2）低血清素和高睾酮可能在促进肇事者表现出的与恐惧相关的攻击性方面发挥作用。我们对ALC-PERP、非暴力酗酒者和健康对照者进行了FDG PET扫描。初步结果表明，ALC-PERP有较低的葡萄糖代谢，在右下丘脑相比，非暴力酗酒者和健康的比较对象。为了研究肇事者的自主调节，我们进行了直立挑战。呼吸性窦性心律不齐和心率之间的强关联存在于对照组中，而不存在于肇事者中。这表明肇事者可能有自主神经功能紊乱。为了研究肇事者的去甲肾上腺素能功能，我们给肇事者和对照者服用α-2-拮抗剂育亨宾。我们现在正在对激发过程中获得的血浆进行各种去甲肾上腺素能参数的测定。

Domestic violence is a problem of major proportions in the United States. The majority of studies pertaining to the etiology of domestic violence have focused on psychosocial parameters and given little emphasis to biological factors. In order to explore the possiblity that the aggression displayed by perpetrators is related to fear, we administered the panicogenic agent, sodium lactate, to a select group of perpetrators. Results of this study showed that perpetrators evidenced more lactate-induced fear, panic, and rage than non-violent controls. These results lead us to conclude that some perpetrators of domestic violence have an exaggerated fear-related rage response to perceived threats. Our current research is directed toward understanding what abnormality(s) may be present in perpetrators which could contribute to these exaggerated fear-related responses. To do this, we are conducting a number of research studies. We performed detailed psychiatric evaluations of perpetrators and controls. Preliminary results indicate that perpetrators have a higher incidence of anxiety-related disorders than expected. We obtained cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) from perpetators with (ALC-PERP)and without (PERP) a diagnosis of alcoholism and healthy comparison subjects. Compared to controls, ALC-PERP had significantly higher CSF testosterone concentrations, and PERP had significantly lower CSF concentrations of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA). These findings lead to the following conclusions: 1) there may be biological differences between perpetrators with and without alcoholism; 2) both low serotonin and high testosterone may have a role in facilitating the fear-related aggression displayed by perpetrators. Additional CSF neurotransmitters are currently being assayed.We performed FDG PET scans on ALC-PERP, non-violent alcoholics, and healthy comparison subjects. Preliminary results show that ALC-PERP have lower glucose metabolism in the right hypothalamus compared to non-violent alcoholics and healthy comparison subjects. To study autonomic regulation in perpetrators, we performed an orthostatic challenge. The strong association between respiratory sinus arrhythmia and heart rate present in controls was not present in the perpetrators. This suggests that perpetrators may have a disturbance in their autonomic function. To study noradrenergic function in perpetrators, we administered the alpha-2-antagonist, yohimbine, to perpetrators and controls. We are in now in the process of having the plasma, which was obtained during the challenge, assayed for various noradrenergic parameters.