Aberrant type 2 dopamine receptor availability in violent offenders with psychopathy.

Psychopathy is characterized by antisocial behavior, poor behavioral control and lacking empathy, and structural alterations in the corresponding neural circuits. Molecular brain basis of psychopathy remains poorly characterized. Here we studied type 2 dopamine receptor (D2R) and mu-opioid receptor (MOR) availability in convicted violent offenders with high psychopathic traits (n = 11) and healthy matched controls (n = 17) using positron emission tomography (PET).

Mu-opioid receptor system modulates responses to vocal bonding and distress signals in humans.

Laughter is a contagious prosocial signal that conveys bonding motivation; adult crying conversely communicates desire for social proximity by signalling distress. Endogenous mu-opioid receptors (MORs) modulate sociability in humans and non-human primates. In this combined PET-fMRI study ( = 17), we tested whether central MOR tone is associated with regional brain responses to social signals of laughter and crying.

Brain structural alterations in autism and criminal psychopathy.

The goal of this study was to elucidate the anatomical brain basis of social cognition through two disorders with distinctively different phenotypes of social interaction. We compared structural MR images of 20 individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), 19 violent offenders with high psychopathic traits, and 19 control participants using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Our earlier study showed lower grey matter volume (GMV) values in the insula, frontal cortex, and sensorimotor cortex of the offender group compared to controls.

Aberrant motor contagion of emotions in psychopathy and high-functioning autism.

Psychopathy and autism are both associated with aberrant social skills and empathy, yet only psychopaths are markedly antisocial and violent. Here, we compared the functional neural alterations underlying these two groups that both have aberrant empathetic abilities but distinct behavioral phenotypes. We studied 19 incarcerated male offenders with high psychopathic traits, 20 males with high-functioning autism, and 19 age-matched healthy controls.

Brain Basis of Psychopathy in Criminal Offenders and General Population.

Psychopathy is characterized by persistent antisocial behavior, impaired empathy, and egotistical traits. These traits vary also in normally functioning individuals. Here, we tested whether such antisocial personalities are associated with similar structural and neural alterations as those observed in criminal psychopathy.

Knocking on prison's door: a 10-fold rise in the number of psychotic prisoners in Finland during the years 2005-2016.

Background: As in many European countries, Finnish psychiatric services experienced a rapid process of deinstitutionalization in the 1990s. In recent decades, the decrease in numbers of psychiatric hospital beds has in several countries been found to be linked with increasing criminality among severely mentally ill individuals. It has been concluded that deinstitutionalization could be the main reason for this development.

Somnophilia and Sexual Abuse Using Vaginal Administration of Triazolam.

Somnophilia is a rare paraphilia, a form of sexual fetishism which is characterized by the desire to have sex with an unconscious human object who is unable to respond. To the author's knowledge, this is the first case study concerning somnophilic sexual abuse associated with vaginal administration of triazolam. The perpetrator video-recorded his sexual acts with two unconscious female victims with whom he also had normal sexual intercourse and who were unaware of his paraphilic activities.

Altered role of the concept of psychopathy in forensic psychiatry.

During the early 20th century, psychopathy referred to "borderland states" between normality and mental illness, corresponding to the current personality disorders. In psychiatric assessment, a significant proportion of psychopaths were considered to be not of sound mind, i.e.

Neurocognitive disorders in sentenced male offenders: implications for rehabilitation.

Background: Neurocognitive deficits are frequent among male offenders and tend to be associated with a more serious risk of anti-social activity, but they are not systematically allowed for in rehabilitation programmes.

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate neurocognitive performance in a sample of sentenced Finnish male prisoners and consider the implications for prison programme entry.

Methods: Seventy-five sentenced male prisoners were examined using a neurocognitive test battery.

Postural control in restless legs syndrome with medication intervention using pramipexole.

Central dopamine regulation is involved in postural control and in the pathophysiology of restless legs syndrome (RLS) and Parkinson's disease (PD). Postural control abnormalities have been detected in PD, but there are no earlier studies with regard to RLS and postural control. Computerized force platform posturography was applied to measure the shift and the velocity (CPFV) of center point of forces (CPF) with eyes open (EO) and eyes closed (EC) in controls (n = 12) and prior and after a single day intervention with pramipexole in RLS subjects (n = 12).

Disrupted central inhibition after transcranial magnetic stimulation of motor cortex in schizophrenia with long-term antipsychotic treatment.

Aims. Schizophrenia is a neuropsychiatric disorder associated with mental and motor disturbances. We aimed to investigate motor control, especially central silent period (CSP) in subjects with schizophrenia (n = 11) on long-term antipsychotic treatment compared to healthy controls (n = 9).

Psychopathic traits in a representative sample of Finnish male prisoners.

Background: The psychopathic traits measured with the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) in a representative national prisoner sample have not been studied in Finland before. It has been unclear whether there could occur some national differences or whether the PCL-R can be used for assessing psychopathic traits in the Finnish forensic settings.

Aims: Our aim was to study the distribution of psychopathic traits in the Finnish male prisoners as well as the correlations of these traits with DSM-IV disorders and to compare the sample with similar samples of Europe and America.

Recurrent CSPs after Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of Motor Cortex in Restless Legs Syndrome.

Aims. The aim of this study was to investigate the motor control and central silent period (CSP) in restless legs syndrome (RLS). Methods.

Imprisonment and diagnostic delay among male offenders with schizophrenia.

Background: Psychotic symptoms are common among prisoners, a diagnosis of schizophrenia probably more likely than in the general population; however, less is known about the extent to which prisoners may show a different course of illness.

Aims: The aims of the study were to characterise schizophrenic male offenders and to compare their age at diagnosis with that of people with schizophrenia in general mental health services in Finland.

Methods: The study population comprised all the male offenders in Finland who left the national psychiatric prison hospital between 1 January 2003 and 31 December 2006 with an International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Edition, diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Effect of visual information on postural control in patients with schizophrenia.

Lateralized motor and attentional abnormalities contribute to schizophrenia, but little is known about possible abnormalities in neural machinery involved in postural control. We examined postural stability of 22 patients with schizophrenia taking medication and 14 healthy control participants using computerized force platform posturography. The shift in the center point of pressure in the condition of eyes open versus eyes closed characterizes the effect of visual information on body posture.

Matricide and two sexual femicides by a male strangler with a transgender sadomasochistic identity.

While violence against sexual minorities is a well-known phenomenon, sexual homicides committed by men with cross-dressing or transsexual identity are not, because they are relatively few. We report a 23-year follow-up of the case of a transvestite, possibly transsexual, man who killed his mother by strangulation at the age of 20, and later in two separate cases strangled a female victim towards whom he felt sexual desire. He reported being sexually aroused by being strangled himself.

Cognitive functioning and expressed emotion among patients with first-episode severe psychiatric disorders.

Expressed emotion (EE) in families is able to predict the clinical outcome of patients with schizophrenia and mood disorders. However, the origins of EE and its interactions with the patient's clinical characteristics are not clear. In this respect, cognitive functioning of schizophrenic and mood-disorder patients has yielded contradictory results.

Neuropsychological subtyping of schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia tends to be associated with a general decline in cognitive functioning. However, some studies have found neuropsychologically normal schizophrenia patients. To address this contradiction, we screened first-episode schizophrenic patients according to degree of neuropsychological dysfunction.

Lower limb motor restlessness in Asperger's disorder, measured using actometry.

The movement disturbances and brain imaging findings in Asperger's disorder (AD) suggest a dopaminergic deficit in movement regulation. Movement disorders of different etiologies have been quantified and specified with actometry. We compared 10 AD patients with 10 healthy controls, measuring their rest-activities by actometry.

Exploring the relations between depression, somatization, dissociation and alexithymia--overlapping or independent constructs?

Background: The aim of this study was to extend our knowledge of associations among the constructs of alexithymia, depression, somatization and dissociation.

Sampling And Methods: 924 nonclinical subjects answered questions about depression (21-item Beck Depression Inventory), somatization (13-item somatization part of Symptom Check List-90), dissociation (28-item Dissociative Experiences Scale) and alexithymia (20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale). In addition, a 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) was administered to detect psychiatric distress among subjects.