Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-fqc5m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-29T02:41:43.267Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Neural Substrates of Violent Behaviour a Preliminary Study with Positron Emission Tomography

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Abstract

Brain function was evaluated in four psychiatric patients with a history of repetitive purposeless violent behaviour, using EEG, CT scan, and positron emission tomography (PET). Three patients showed spiking activity in left temporal regions, and two showed CT scan abnormalities characterised by generalised cortical atrophy. The PET scans for the four cases showed evidence of blood flow and metabolic abnormalities in the left temporal lobe. Two patients also had derangement in the frontal cortex. The patients showing the largest defects with the PET scans were those whose CT scans were reported as normal. This paper shows the utility of PET in investigating possible brain derangements that could lead to violent behaviour.

Type
Papers
Copyright
Copyright © 1987 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Albert, D. J. & Walsh, M. L. (1984) Neural systems and the inhibitory modulation of agostic behavior: a comparison of mammalian species. Neurosciences and Biobehavioral Reviews, 8, 524.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (1980) Diagnostic and Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn) (DSM-III). Washington: American Psychiatric Association.Google Scholar
Blumer, D. P., Williams, H. W. & Mark, V. H. (1974) The study and treatment on a neurological ward of aggressive patients with focal brain disease. Confinia Neurologica, 36, 125176.Google Scholar
Goldstein, M. (1974) Brain research and violent behavior: a summary and evaluation of biomedical research on brain and aggressive behavior. Archives of Neurology, 30, 135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joest, M. (1983) Homicide of an aggressive adolescent boy with right temporal lesion: a case report. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 7, 419422.Google Scholar
Krieger, L. (1985) Brain damage linked to violent behavior. American Medical News, 25 Oct., 1922.Google Scholar
Lorimer, F. M. (1972) Violent behavior and the electroencephalogram. Clinical Electroencephalography, 3, 193.Google Scholar
Luria, A. R. (1966) Higher Cortical Functions in Man. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Mednick, S. A., Pollock, V., Volavka, J. & Gabrielli, W. F. (1982) Biology and violence. In Criminal Violence (ed. Weiner, W.). London: Sage.Google Scholar
Mirsky, A. F. & Harman, N. (1974) On aggressive behavior and brain disease — some questions and possible relationships derived from the study of man and monkeys. In Neuropsychology of Aggression (ed. Whalen, R.). New York: Plenum.Google Scholar
Monroe, R. (1981) Brain dysfunction in prisoners. In Violence and the Violent Individual (eds Hays, R., Roberts, Th. & Sokway, D.). New York: SP. Medical and Scientific Books.Google Scholar
Mullani, N. A., Gaeta, J., Yerian, K., Wong, W. H., Hartz, R. K., Philippe, E. A., Bristow, D. & Gould, K. L. (1984) Dynamic imaging with high resolution time of flight PET camera TOFPET. IEEE Transactions of Nuclear Science, 31, 609613.Google Scholar
Mungas, D. (1983) An empirical analysis of specific syndromes of violent behavior. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 171, 354361.Google Scholar
Phelps, M. E., Mazziotta, J. & Huang, S.-Ch. (1982) Study of cerebral function with positron computed tomography. Journal Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, 2, 113162.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Raichle, M. E., Martin, W. R., Herscovitch, P., Minton, M. A. & Markham, A. (1983) Brain blood flow measured with intravenous H2 15O. Journal of Nuclear Medicine, 24, 790798.Google Scholar
Reivich, M., Alavi, A., Wolf, A., Greenberg, J. H., Fowler, J., Christman, D., MacGregor, R., Jones, S. C., London, J., Shive, C. & Yonekura, T. (1982) Use of 2-deoxy-D (1-C) glucose for determination of local cerebral glucose metabolism in humans: variation within and between subjects. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, 2, 307319.Google Scholar
Valzelli, L. (1981) Psychobiology of Aggression and Violence. New York: Raven Press.Google Scholar
Volkow, N. D., Brodie, J. D. & Gomez-Mont, R. (1985) Applications of positron emission tomography to psychiatry. In Positron Emission Tomography (eds Reivich, M. & Alavi, A.). New York: Alan R. Liss.Google Scholar
Wieser, H. G. (1983) Depth recorded limbic seizures and psychopathology. Neuroscience and Biobehavioural Reviews, 7, 427440.Google Scholar
Williams, D. (1969) Neural factors related to habitual aggression – consideration of differences between those habitual aggressives and others who have committed crimes of violence. Brain, 92, 503520.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yeudall, L. T. (1977) Neuropsychological assessment of forensic disorders. Canadian Mental Health, 25, 7.Google Scholar
Yeudall, L. T., Fromm-Auch, D. & Davies, P. (1982) Neuropsychological impairment of persistent delinquency. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 170, 257265.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.