Testosterone InfluencesRegulation of Emotional Behavior in the Brain of Psychopathic

Offenders

Material below summarizes the article, Testosterone Modulates Altered Prefrontal Control of
Emotional Actions in Psychopathic Offenders, publishedonJanuary 15, 2016, in eNeuro and
authoredby Inge Volman, Anna KatinkaLouise von Borries, BerendHendrikBulten,
RobbertJanVerkes, Ivan Toni, and Karin Roelofs.
Brain research has demonstrated that psychopathic offenders exhibitreduced control over
their emotionalactions. Ourgroup of researchersfromUniversityCollege London and
DondersInstitute at RadboudUniversitydiscoveredthatthequantity of testosterone a person
produces influencestheparts of thebrainresponsibleforregulatingemotions.
Thefindingsprovidestartingpointsforthetreatment of psychopathicoffenders.

We investigated a group of 15 psychopathic criminals in a jointre search project with the

Pompe Foundation for forensicpsychiatry in the Netherlands. We were particularly interested
in how the supply of testosterone influenced the regulation of emotional behavior.

Among the general public, psychopathic offenders are mainly known for their planned and
targeted form of criminality. They are generally classed as calculating and set to work with a
high degree (experiencial o conocimiento) of apparent cold-bloodedness.

Less well known is that psychopathic offender sexhibit impulsive behavior and experience
problems in regulating their emotions. These problems often lead to difficulty in social
contacts and police arrest because at vital moments, they lose their cool.

Why is that?

During our research, criminal offenders and healthy participants carried out a so-called
approach-avoidancet ask in an MRI scanner in which they were shown emotional faces.
Generally, humans want to with draw when we see an angry face and try to come closer if we
see a happy person. The study subjects were asked to respond in exactly the opposite manner.
Using a joy stick, study subject shad to approach angry faces and push away happy faces to
measure control of the emotional tendencies to move the joystick to
wardsoneselfuponseeingimages of friendly faces or to push it away upon seeing threatening
faces.

In the healthy control persons, there searchers saw a normal pattern of communication
between the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala the emotion center if they had to
control their reflex by making the opposite movement with a joystick
(movingittowardsthemselveswhentheysawangry faces and
awayfromthemselveswhentheysawfriendly faces). Such counter-intuitive joystick movements
require control, and that was clearly observable in thebrain activity.

However, in people with psychopathy, this prefrontal region necessary for controlling
emotional behavior showed a blunted response and reduced connectivity with the
amygdale when they were engaged in controlling their emotional action tendencies. This
cerebral pattern was strongest in psychopathic individuals with high endogenous testosterone
elevels.

There search results provide a neuro-hormonal explanation for emotional regulation problems
in psychopathic patients. Further more, the results provide starting points for the treatment of
psychopaths by influencing the amount of testosterone in their bodies.

Visit eNeuro to read the original article and explore othercontent.

TestosteroneModulatesAltered Prefrontal Control of EmotionalActions in

PsychopathicOffenders. Inge Volman, Anna KatinkaLouise von Borries, BerendHendrikBulten,
RobbertJanVerkes, Ivan Toni, Karin Roelofs. eNeuro Jan 2016, DOI: 10.1523/ENEURO.0107-
15.2016.

Inge Volman, PhD

Inge Volmanis a Marie Curie fellow at theInstitute of Neurology, UniversityCollege London in

thegroup of SvenBestmann and RayDolan. Previously, sheworked as anassistantprofessor at
theBehavioralScienceInstitute and DondersInstitute in theNetherlands. Herresearchtopics are
focusedonthebehavioral, neural, and endocrinemechanismsinvolvedduring social
emotionalbehavior in differentpsychopathologicaldisorders and in thestudentpopulation.
Volmanreceived a Marie Curie Individual FellowshipfromtheEuropeanUnionsHorizon 2020
Framework Programme in 2015 as well as a BA/Leverhulme Small ResearchGrantfromthe
British Academy in 2016.