Altered Neural and Behavioral Response to Sexually Implicit Stimuli During a Pictorial-Modified Stroop Task in Pedophilic Disorder
Background: Pedophilic disorder (PD) entails sexual attraction to prepubertal children. A risk factor for committing child sexual abuse in PD is impaired cognitive control. However, the underlying neurocognitive mechanisms remain unclear. Methods: We performed a case-control study including 51 self-...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667174322000192 |
| _version_ | 1797846384226861056 |
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| author | Christian Mannfolk Benny Liberg Christoph Abé Christoffer Rahm |
| author_facet | Christian Mannfolk Benny Liberg Christoph Abé Christoffer Rahm |
| author_sort | Christian Mannfolk |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Pedophilic disorder (PD) entails sexual attraction to prepubertal children. A risk factor for committing child sexual abuse in PD is impaired cognitive control. However, the underlying neurocognitive mechanisms remain unclear. Methods: We performed a case-control study including 51 self-identified and help-seeking males with PD and 55 matched healthy control subjects. Functional magnetic resonance imaging and a pictorial-modified Stroop task involving computer-generated sexually implicit images were used to measure response time and brain activation. Increases in response time during the pictorial-modified Stroop task are presumably due to image-induced interference in executive functions required for task performance. Results: In PD, during the presentation of images of children compared with adults, we found increased response time (p = .005; 848 ± 92 ms vs. 826 ± 88 ms), and compared with healthy control subjects, we found increased activation in the occipital, temporal (bilateral hippocampus), parietal, frontal, cingulate, and left insular cortices; caudate (bilaterally); thalamus (mediodorsal); and cerebellum. Conclusions: Presentation of child images was associated with response interference in PD and increased engagement of brain regions involved in the processing of sexual stimuli, visual perception, self-referential thought, and executive function. We conclude that processing of child images is associated with functional and behavioral alterations in PD. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T17:54:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d6039d6c67154c058a484f39cc1ee583 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2667-1743 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T17:54:05Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-d6039d6c67154c058a484f39cc1ee5832023-04-15T05:55:33ZengElsevierBiological Psychiatry Global Open Science2667-17432023-04-0132292300Altered Neural and Behavioral Response to Sexually Implicit Stimuli During a Pictorial-Modified Stroop Task in Pedophilic DisorderChristian Mannfolk0Benny Liberg1Christoph Abé2Christoffer Rahm3Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, and Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Sweden; Address correspondence to Christian Mannfolk, M.D.Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, SwedenDepartment of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, SwedenCentre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, and Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, SwedenBackground: Pedophilic disorder (PD) entails sexual attraction to prepubertal children. A risk factor for committing child sexual abuse in PD is impaired cognitive control. However, the underlying neurocognitive mechanisms remain unclear. Methods: We performed a case-control study including 51 self-identified and help-seeking males with PD and 55 matched healthy control subjects. Functional magnetic resonance imaging and a pictorial-modified Stroop task involving computer-generated sexually implicit images were used to measure response time and brain activation. Increases in response time during the pictorial-modified Stroop task are presumably due to image-induced interference in executive functions required for task performance. Results: In PD, during the presentation of images of children compared with adults, we found increased response time (p = .005; 848 ± 92 ms vs. 826 ± 88 ms), and compared with healthy control subjects, we found increased activation in the occipital, temporal (bilateral hippocampus), parietal, frontal, cingulate, and left insular cortices; caudate (bilaterally); thalamus (mediodorsal); and cerebellum. Conclusions: Presentation of child images was associated with response interference in PD and increased engagement of brain regions involved in the processing of sexual stimuli, visual perception, self-referential thought, and executive function. We conclude that processing of child images is associated with functional and behavioral alterations in PD.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667174322000192AttentionDefault mode networkExecutive functionFunctional magnetic resonance imagingPedophiliaStroop task |
| spellingShingle | Christian Mannfolk Benny Liberg Christoph Abé Christoffer Rahm Altered Neural and Behavioral Response to Sexually Implicit Stimuli During a Pictorial-Modified Stroop Task in Pedophilic Disorder Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science Attention Default mode network Executive function Functional magnetic resonance imaging Pedophilia Stroop task |
| title | Altered Neural and Behavioral Response to Sexually Implicit Stimuli During a Pictorial-Modified Stroop Task in Pedophilic Disorder |
| title_full | Altered Neural and Behavioral Response to Sexually Implicit Stimuli During a Pictorial-Modified Stroop Task in Pedophilic Disorder |
| title_fullStr | Altered Neural and Behavioral Response to Sexually Implicit Stimuli During a Pictorial-Modified Stroop Task in Pedophilic Disorder |
| title_full_unstemmed | Altered Neural and Behavioral Response to Sexually Implicit Stimuli During a Pictorial-Modified Stroop Task in Pedophilic Disorder |
| title_short | Altered Neural and Behavioral Response to Sexually Implicit Stimuli During a Pictorial-Modified Stroop Task in Pedophilic Disorder |
| title_sort | altered neural and behavioral response to sexually implicit stimuli during a pictorial modified stroop task in pedophilic disorder |
| topic | Attention Default mode network Executive function Functional magnetic resonance imaging Pedophilia Stroop task |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667174322000192 |
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