Neurobiological correlates of sexual violence: from child sexual offending towards sexual violence against women

目前关于性暴力行为的神经生物学基础的知识非常有限，特别是关于强奸犯或针对妇女的性犯罪者。大多数先前的工作集中在恋童癖和儿童性犯罪。正如我们的中期报告所示，我们自己在这个问题上的工作表明，儿童性犯罪行为，而不是恋童癖，反映了多种改变，包括遗传，神经生物学和环境因素。因此，拟议研究的主要目标是澄清（1）这些发现是否特异于儿童性犯罪或可能代表一般性暴力的独特神经生物学内表型，以及（2）这些改变是否或在多大程度上可能与大多数性犯罪预测稳定动态风险因素有关。类似于我们以前对恋童癖和儿童性犯罪的方法，我们将研究三组男性，这三组男性可以区分犯罪者的身份和强迫性的性冲动和性幻想：（1）对女性实施性犯罪的男性，（2）健康的非犯罪男性，（3）遭受强迫性性幻想但未实施性犯罪的男性。作为生物学措施，我们建议评估内分泌（雄激素、性激素结合球蛋白（SHBG）、皮质醇和催乳素）和表观遗传参数（雄激素、多巴胺和5-羟色胺神经递质系统）。通过使用相同的多模态脑成像技术（灰质和白色物质结构的结构成像，静息状态功能连接），我们进一步计划评估和直接比较针对女性的性犯罪者与儿童性犯罪者的基本结构和功能性脑改变。 该项目的另一个重要目的是将经验证实的稳定动态风险因素与神经生物学措施/改变相关联。此外，通过应用特定任务的功能性MRI，我们进一步的目的是探讨神经功能障碍的最重要的危险因素之一，更深入，冲动控制或反应抑制（RI），分别。RI将使用相同的经典GoNogo反应抑制范式进行评估，在第一个资助期内使用的儿童性犯罪者。我们预计，罪犯的地位是与特定的神经元反应模式，以及降低能力，控制优势冲动，导致大量的委员会错误。

The current knowledge on neurobiological underpinnings of sexual violent behavior is very limited, especially with respect to rapists or sex offenders against women. Most of the prior work focused on pedophilia and child sexual offending. As illustrated in our intermediate report, our own work on that issue suggest that child sexual offending behavior, rather than pedophilia, is reflected by a multitude of alterations including heritable, neurobiological and environmental factors. It is therefore a main goal of the proposed research to clarify (1) whether these findings are specific for child sexual offending or may represent a unique neurobiological endophenotype of sexual violence in general and (2) whether or in how far these alterations may relate to most sex offence-predictive stable-dynamic risk factors.Similar to our previous approach on pedophilia and child sexual offending, we will examine three groups of men, which allow for a differentiation of offender status and coercive sexual urges and fantasies: (1) men who committed sexual offences against women, (2) healthy non-offending men, and (3) men suffering from coercive sexual fantasies who did not committed sex offences, yet.As biological measures, we propose assessing endocrine (androgens, sex hormone binding globuline (SHBG), cortisol and prolactin) and epigenetic parameters (androgen, dopamine and serotonin neurotransmitter systems). By using the same multimodal brain imaging techniques (structural imaging on gray and white matter structures, resting state functional connectivity), we further plan to assess and directly compare basic structural and functional brain alterations in sex offenders against women with those found in child sex offenders. A further important aim of this project is the association of empirically confirmed stable-dynamic risk factors with neurobiological measures/alterations. Moreover, by applying task-specific functional MRI, we further aim to explore the neural dysfunctions related to one of the most important risk factors more in depth, impulse-control or response inhibition (RI), respectively. RI will be assessed using the same classic GoNogo response inhibition paradigm as used during the first funding period in child sex offenders. We expect that offender status is associated with specific neuronal response pattern as well as reduced ability to control prepotent impulses resulting in a larger number of commission errors.