Brain glucose metabolism in violent psychiatric patients: a preliminary study

Positron emission tomography with 18F-deoxyglucose was used to evaluate regional brain glucose metabolism in eight normal subjects and eight psychiatric patients with a history of repetitive violent behavior. Seven of the patients showed widespread areas of low brain metabolism. Although the location of the abnormal regions varied among patients, they showed significantly lower relative metabolic values in medial temporal and prefrontal cortices than did normal comparison subjects. These regions have been implicated as substrates for aggression and impulsivity, and their dysfunction may have contributed to the patients' violent behavior.

[1]  W. J. Klein,et al.  Aggression, suicide, and serotonin: relationships to CSF amine metabolites. , 1982, The American journal of psychiatry.

[2]  Handbook of Clinical Neurology, vol 3: Disorders of Higher Nervous Activity. , 1970 .

[3]  B. Bard,et al.  Psychiatric, neurological, and psychoeducational characteristics of 15 death row inmates in the United States. , 1986, The American journal of psychiatry.

[4]  J. Milner.  Neuropsychology of Aggression , 1991, Foundations of Neuropsychology.

[5]  C. Nemeroff,et al.  CSF biochemistries, glucose metabolism, and diurnal activity rhythms in alcoholic, violent offenders, fire setters, and healthy volunteers. , 1994, Archives of general psychiatry.

[6]  D. Mungas.  An empirical analysis of specific syndromes of violent behavior. , 1983, The Journal of nervous and mental disease.

[7]  N. Volkow,et al.  A Theory of the Mind/Brain Dichotomy with Special Reference to the Contribution of Positron Emission Tomography , 2015, Perspectives in biology and medicine.

[8]  M. Goldstein.  Brain research and violent behavior. A summary and evaluation of the status of biomedical research on brain and aggressive violent behavior. , 1974, Archives of neurology.

[9]  N. Volkow,et al.  Neuropsychiatric disorders: investigation of schizophrenia and substance abuse. , 1992, Seminars in nuclear medicine.

[10]  K. Christiansen,et al.  Androgen levels and components of aggressive behavior in men , 1987, Hormones and Behavior.

[11]  M. Raleigh,et al.  Serotonergic influences on the social behavior of vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops sabaeus) , 1980, Experimental Neurology.

[12]  R. K. Hartz,et al.  Dynamic Imaging with High Resolution Time-of-Flight PET Camera - TOFPET I , 1984, IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science.

[13]  S. Charles Schulz,et al.  Positron-Emission Tomography and Personality Disorders , 1994, Neuropsychopharmacology.

[14]  N. Volkow,et al.  Neural Substrates of Violent Behaviour a Preliminary Study with Positron Emission Tomography , 1987, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[15]  M. Buchsbaum,et al.  Selective reductions in prefrontal glucose metabolism in murderers , 1994, Biological Psychiatry.

[16]  R. Poland,et al.  Personality profiles and state aggressiveness in Finnish alcoholic, violent offenders, fire setters, and healthy volunteers. , 1994, Archives of general psychiatry.

[17]  M. Walsh,et al.  Neural systems and the inhibitory modulation of agonistic behavior: A comparison of mammalian species , 1984, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.

[18]  J. Pincus.  Violence and epilepsy. , 1981, The New England journal of medicine.

[19]  H. D. Steklis,et al.  Serum testosterone, male dominance, and aggression in captive groups of vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops sabaeus) , 1985, Hormones and Behavior.

[20]  Sid Deutsch,et al.  Radiotelemetered activity from the amygdala during social interactions in the monkey , 1979, Experimental Neurology.

[21]  Lennart Heimer.  The Human Brain and Spinal Cord , 1983 .

[22]  M. Mesulam.  Principles of behavioral neurology , 1985 .

[23]  M. Sandler,et al.  Psychopharmacology of Aggression , 1979 .

[24]  A. Wolf,et al.  Chapter 29. New Directions in Positron Emission Tomography , 1989 .

[25]  L. Yeudall,et al.  Neuropsychological Impairment of Persistent Delinquency , 1982, The Journal of nervous and mental disease.

[26]  A. Luria.  Higher Cortical Functions in Man , 1980, Springer US.

[27]  A. Mirsky,et al.  On Aggressive Behavior and Brain Disease — Some Questions and Possible Relationships Derived from the Study of Men and Monkeys , 1974 .

[28]  M. Motta.  The Endocrine Functions of the Brain , 1980 .

[29]  D. Williams,et al.  Neural factors related to habitual aggression. Consideration of differences between those habitual aggressives and others who have committed crimes of violence. , 1969, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[30]  S. Levine,et al.  HORMONAL DETERMINANTS OF AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR * , 1969, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[31]  R. Adams,et al.  Principles of Neurology , 1996 .

[32]  H. G. Wieser,et al.  Depth recorded limbic seizures and psychopathology , 1983, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.

[33]  B. Eichelman.  The limbic system and aggression in humans , 1983, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.

[34]  R. Stuart.  Violent behavior : social learning approaches to prediction, management, and treatment , 1981 .

[35]  L. Ellis.  Genetics and Criminal Behavior Evidence Through the End of the 1970s , 1982 .

[36]  R. Pihl,et al.  The effect of raising or lowering tryptophan levels on aggression in vervet monkeys , 1987, Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior.

[37]  Karl H. Pribram,et al.  Influence of amygdalectomy on social behavior in monkeys. , 1954, Journal of comparative and physiological psychology.

[38]  M. Linnoila,et al.  Cerebrospinal fluid monoamine and adrenal correlates of aggression in free-ranging rhesus monkeys. , 1992, Archives of general psychiatry.