Brain responses to pictures of children in men with pedophilic disorder: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

Structural and functional neuroimaging techniques have recently been used to investigate the mechanisms of sexual attraction to children, a hallmark of pedophilic disorder, and have reported many contradictory or non-replicated findings. Here, our purpose was to identify through functional magnetic resonance imaging the brain responses of 25 male outpatients with pedophilic disorder to visual stimuli depicting children (VSc) and to compare them with 24 male healthy controls matched on sexual orientation (to female or male adults), age, and handedness. No region was differentially activated across the two groups in response to VSc. However, as shown by a random-effects statistical analysis (cluster-level pFWE-corrected < 0.05), in patients with pedophilia, but not in controls, the presentation of VSc induced a bilateral activation in the lateral occipital and temporal cortices, in particular in the right inferior temporal gyrus, as well as an activation in the declive of the cerebellar vermis. In addition, in patients the level of bilateral activation in the above-mentioned regions was positively correlated with ratings of perceived sexual arousal elicited by VSc. These results implicate these regions as possible candidate areas mediating sexual arousal in patients with pedophilic disorder.

[History and evolution of the organization of health care in prisons]. / Historique et evolution de l'organisation des soins en milieu carcéral.

It was on the eve of the French Revolution, with the trend for health and philanthropy, that the focus on the health of prisoners, including their mental health, started to evolve. However, psychiatric care for prisoners only became widespread after the Second World War.

[Criminal psychological approach to care of prisoners]. / Approche criminologique du patient dans le cadre du soin.

In the framework of the therapeutic approach, it is essential to make an accurate diagnosis by identifying the mental illness or personality disorder affecting the prisoner. The multi-disciplinary team then implements institutional, chemotherapeutic or psychotherapeutic treatment strategies.