Increasing homicide rate in Finland accompanied by decreasing seasonality over the period 1957-95.

Homicide is recognized as a global public health problem. Finland has the highest overall homicide rate of the Nordic countries in comparisons over short time periods. Using the 39-year time series of homicide incidents in Finland from 1957-95, we analyzed the trend in homicide rate.

Abnormal structure of human striatal dopamine re-uptake sites in habitually violent alcoholic offenders: a fractal analysis.

Both animal and human studies imply that aggressive behaviour is associated with increased dopaminergic transmission. Our hypothesis was that impulsive violent offenders have also higher heterogeneity of the striatal dopamine transporter (DAT) density than controls. We performed a fractal analysis in 21 impulsive violent offenders, 10 non-violent alcoholics and 21 controls to measure the heterogeneity and laterality of the striatal DAT density characterised by [123I]beta-CIT single-photon emission tomography (SPET).

Schizophrenia, alcohol abuse, and violent behavior: a 26-year followup study of an unselected birth cohort.

It has been suggested that schizophrenia and alcoholism are associated with violent behavior. But so far there are no published studies from unselected cohorts quantifying the actual risk associated with schizophrenia both with and without comorbid alcoholism. In this study, an unselected birth cohort (n = 11,017) was prospectively followed to the age of 26, and data on psychiatric disorders and crimes were collected from national registers.

Reversal of cerebral asymmetry in schizophrenia measured with magnetoencephalography.

It has been suggested that schizophrenic patients fail to develop left-hemisphere dominance because of an early disturbance in neuronal development. This hypothesis has been supported by some post-mortem. CT and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies, while other in-vivo studies have given contradicting results.

Striatal presynaptic dopamine function in type 1 alcoholics measured with positron emission tomography.

Recent in vivo studies have shown low dopamine D2 receptor and dopamine transporter densities among late onset (type 1) alcoholics. We have now studied 6-[18F]-FDOPA (FDOPA) uptake in 10 type 1 alcoholics and eight matched controls to test the hypothesis that striatal presynaptic dopamine function is lower among alcoholics. Markedly low FDOPA uptake (Ki) was observed in the left caudate of two alcoholic patients, but the mean striatal uptake values of the patient group were higher than those of the control group.

Delusional parasitosis in the elderly: a review and report of six cases from northern Finland.

A patient with delusional parasitosis has a strong conviction of being infested with parasites: for example, lice or worms. Such a patient is not satisfied with assurances or test results that no parasites are present, but is so convinced that he or she will go as far as to bring the parasites in "matchboxes" to a physician. Subjectively worried, the patient may try to pick the parasites out of the skin, causing cutaneous lesions and even ulcerations.

Juvenile mortality, mental disturbances and criminality: a prospective study of the Northern Finland 1966 birth cohort.

Mortality, criminality and mental illness among young adults were studied in an unselected birth cohort of 12 058 children born live in Northern Finland during 1966. The cohort members were followed up to the age of 27 years. The total number of all deaths was 117, and 79.

The incidence and onset-age of hospitalized bipolar affective disorder in Finland.

Background: Some studies have indicated that there are wide variations on incidence and prevalence of bipolar disorder in specific populations.

Methods: The occurrence of bipolar affective disorder and the age at onset was studied in both genders among the hospitalized Finnish population.

Results: The annual rate of all hospitalized patients with bipolar disorder was 0.

Iodine-123 labeled nor-beta-CIT as a potential tracer for serotonin transporter imaging in the human brain with single-photon emission tomography.

Iodine-123 labelled 2beta-carbomethoxy-3beta-(4-iodophenyl) (nor-beta-CIT) is an analogue of beta-CIT, which has high affinity to the serotonin transporter. Initial single-photon emission tomography (SPET) studies with [123I]nor-beta-CIT were performed in five healthy volunteers. In addition, its metabolism in plasma was investigated with gradient high performance liquid chromatography.

Cerebral benzodiazepine receptor binding and distribution in generalized anxiety disorder: a fractal analysis.

Data obtained from animal and human brain imaging studies indicate that frontal cortex and medial temporal lobe are involved in experiencing and controlling fear and anxiety. We tested the hypothesis that benzodiazepine receptor binding is decreased in the left temporal pole and increased in the right prefrontal area among patients suffering from anxiety. We studied 10 drug-naive female patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and 10 age- and gender-matched healthy controls with MRI and with SPET by using a new (123)I-labelled specific benzodiazepine receptor radioligand, NNC 13-8241.

Seasonal variation in the occurrence of homicide in Finland.

Objective: Although seasonal variation in impulsive aggression related to circannual rhythms of central serotonin neurotransmission is a topic of current interest, there is little firm knowledge on seasonality in the occurrence of homicide. Longitudinal studies on the seasonal rhythms of platelet imipramine binding and L-tryptophan levels have placed the circannual peaks around January and February and the nadirs around May and August. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that the number of homicides is the lowest during winter and the highest during spring and summer.

Fractal analysis of striatal dopamine re-uptake sites.

Spatial variation in regional blood flow, metabolism and receptor density within the brain and in other organs is measurable even with a low spatial resolution technique such as emission tomography. It has been previously shown that the observed variance increases with increasing number of subregions in the organ/tissue studied. This resolution-dependent variance can be described by fractal analysis.

A comparison of clinical and research DSM-III-R diagnoses of schizophrenia in a Finnish national birth cohort. Clinical and research diagnoses of schizophrenia.

As a prerequisite to the use of the Finnish National Hospital Discharge Register in psychiatric epidemiological research, we studied the diagnostic reliability of the register in terms of the psychiatric morbidity experienced by a national birth cohort. We investigated all entries to the register for a sample based upon the Northern Finland 1966 birth cohort at the age of 16 years (n = 11017). Until the end of 1993 (age 27 years), a total of 563 subjects had a register diagnosis indicating a psychiatric illness, 37 of them being schizophrenia.

Trail Making Test in assessing children with reading disabilities: a test of executive functions or content information.

The speed of performance on Part A, Part B, and on an experimental version containing alphabetical series (Part A Alphabetic) of the Trail Making Test was studied with 19 children with reading disabilities and 34 controls from Grades 4 to 6. When the test was used in discriminant profile fashion, children with reading disabilities showed a deficit compared with control children on Part B relative to part A but did not relative to the new Part A Alphabetic. The results indicate that the performance of the children with reading disabilities on Part B is likely to be affected by their slowness on the alphabetical series.

Specific major mental disorders and criminality: a 26-year prospective study of the 1966 northern Finland birth cohort.

Objective: The purpose of the study was to examine the quantitative risk of criminal behavior associated with specific mental disorders.

Method: An unselected 1966 birth cohort (N = 12,058) in Northern Finland was prospectively studied until the end of 1992. The investigation started during the mothers' pregnancy, and the data on the subjects' family characteristics, mental and physical development, living habits, psychiatric morbidity, and criminal records were gathered at various times.

Striatal and extrastriatal imaging of dopamine D2 receptors in the living human brain with [123I]epidepride single-photon emission tomography.

The iodine-123 labelled ligand benzamide epidepride was evaluated as a probe for in vivo imaging of striatal and extrastriatal dopamine D2 receptor sites in the human brain. Four healthy males were imaged with a high-resolution single-photon emission tomography scanner. Striatal radioactivity peaked at 3 h after injection.

Fire-setting from the viewpoint of an arsonist.

1. Arsonists have more psychiatric symptoms, such as self-destructive behavior and alcohol dependency, than other criminal offenders. 2.

Arson trend increasing--a real challenge to psychiatry.

This research evaluated the arson trend in Finland since the 1960s by analyzing the Official Crime Statistics of Finland registered by the police and examined more detailed about arsonists (n = 98), who had been in the forensic psychiatric pretrial examination by using homicide offenders (n = 55) as control subjects. From 1965 to 1991 the percentage of arson in relation to all crimes increased fivefold and in the same timeframe the amount of arson increased nearly tenfold. According to the police in Finland there are committed over 700 arsons every year, of which 90% are committed by men.