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Biomedical subjects

M Virkkunen

Publications and source records attributed to M Virkkunen.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Urinary free cortisol secretion in habitually violent offenders.

Male violent offenders (n = 90) and residivious arsonists (n = 10) were investigated by urinary (24 h) free cortisol measurements at mental examination on a psychiatric department. The measurements were made with competitive protein-binding radioassay. Only among the habitually violent offenders with antisocial personality were the values low when compared with other violent offenders, antisocial personality without the habitually violent tendency, and male clinic personnel. Poor motivation already in school, truancy, attention deficit and undersocialized aggressive conduct disorder problems seemed to be connected with the low cortisol levels.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗
PubMed1984

Reactive hypoglycemic tendency among arsonists.

A reactive hypoglycemic tendency during the glucose tolerance test was connected with fire-setting behavior. These hypoglycemic arsonists not only fulfilled the criteria for either intermittent explosive disorder or violent antisocial personality, but also those for borderline personality disorder. They seemed to differ from other arsonists in alcohol abuse and behavior during the fire-setting acts, and, in personality profile in MMPI, also differed from classical violent offenders with intermittent explosive disorder.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Low cerebrospinal fluid 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid concentration differentiates impulsive from nonimpulsive violent behavior.

Relationships of impulsive and nonimpulsive violent behavior to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) monoamines and their metabolic concentrations were studied in thirty-six violent offenders. A relatively low 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5HIAA) concentration was found in the CSF of impulsive violent offenders. This was not true for the offenders who had premeditated their acts. Other CSF monoamine or metabolite concentrations were not significantly different between the two groups. Of the groups studied, impulsive violent offenders who had attempted suicide had the lowest 5HIAA levels. A low CSF 5HIAA concentration may be a marker of impulsivity rather than violence.

3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic Acid↗
PubMed1983

Serum cholesterol levels in homicidal offenders. A low cholesterol level is connected with a habitually violent tendency under the influence of alcohol.

Serum cholesterol fasting concentrations were measured in 280 male homicidal offenders. Those with an antisocial personality or an intermittent explosive disorder with a habitually violent tendency in both when under the influence of alcohol showed a lower mean level of serum cholesterol than did other offenders. The results were also compatible with the hypotheses that antisocial personality consists of two groups. The exact reason for the finding is not clear but it could be connected with an enhanced insulin secretion.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Insulin secretion during the glucose tolerance test in antisocial personality.

In 23 young male adults with antisocial personality, mostly guilty of violent crimes, insulin measurements during the glucose tolerance test showed an enhanced insulin secretion only in those with unsocialized aggressive conduct disorder. The hypothesis that in antisocial personality there are at least two aetiologically different groups is supported.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Evidence for abnormal glucose tolerance test among violent offenders.

56 male violent offenders and 20 male controls from the psychiatric personnel were studied by means of the glucose tolerance test. The results revealed some abnormal findings among those violent offenders who had an antisocial personality. Their blood glucose concentrations, having risen usually to a rather high level, fell to clinically significant hypoglycemia from which the return to the original basal values was slow. This abnormal glucose tolerance in the antisocial personality may have some connection with the etiology and poor prognosis of this disorder. The exact reason for these findings is not clear.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

The frequency of XYY and XXY men among criminal offenders.

Among 1,040 consecutive male criminals remitted for mental examination nine had the karyotype 47,XYY, one 48,XXYY and eleven 47,XXY. The types of crime in the XYY men were much like those in the XXY men, the proportion of sexual crimes possibly being greater than among other criminal offenders. The reasons for these findings are discussed.

Crime↗
PubMed1979

Alcoholism and antisocial personality.

The picture of alcoholism in criminals with an antisocial personality was compared with criminals with other personality disorders. Fewer of those who had an antisocial personality were physically dependent on alcohol than those with other personality disorders. They considered their alcoholism to be a problem and behaved as if it were only rare. However, they had a strong tendency to behave abnormally under the influence of alcohol over and over again. In these respects the situation among those who were below the age of 20 was similar. To a great extent, the fathers of those who had an antisocial personality had also had a tendency towards abnormal behavior under the influence of alcohol. This was not so often found in the control group.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Serum cholesterol in antisocial personality.

Serum cholesterol fasting concentrations were measured in 274 subjects with personality disorders, who had committed offences. Of these subjects, 139 were found to possess the antisocial personality (sociopathy or psychopathy). With standardized ages, the group of subjects with antisocial personality had a clearly lower mean level of serum cholesterol than the group with other personality disorders which was used as a control group. The use of a mean male population with standardized ages as a control group further emphasized the low values of the serum cholesterol of the antisocial personality group.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

WAIS performances in antisocial personality (disorder).

In the present study, the WAIS performances of subjects with antisocial personality disorder were compared with the performances of controls, who had other personality disorders and had usually only occasional criminality. It appeared that in all subtests the age-scaled scores of the controls were higher than those of the subjects. Statistically significant differences emerged in subtests Information, Comprehension and Arithmetic of the Verbal Scale, and in the picture Completion subtest of the Performance Scale, as well as in the Verbal, Performance and Total IQ. In the light of these results, one fundamental feature in antisocial personality could be the lack of general interest and intellectual curiosity, which is probably associated with a poor ability to "feel" (inadequacy of feelings of pleasure) in those predisposed to antisocial personality.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

Brain injury and criminality. A retrospective study.

This follow-up study elucidates the incidence of criminality among brain injured persons. All the 1930 Finnish veterans who survived a penetrating brain injury during World War II were included in the study. The follow-up covered a period of 32-37 years. Five hundred randomly selected non-injured veterans of the same war were used as controls. A comparison of the frequency of convictions for crimes punishable by imprisonment among the injured and non-injured groups revealed no statistically significant difference between the two groups. This result shows, in accord with several reports on this subject published in the last two decades, that criminal behavior is not a sequela of injury to the brain.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

Effect of brain injury on social adaptability. Longitudinal study on frequency of criminality.

The study tried to clarify social adaptability of persons with brain injuries by using a long-term criminal development as a criterion. Randomly chosen 507 subjects whose open injury originated from the Second World War were followed up for about 30 years. The criminal acts commited by 29 (5.7%) of these subjects were so severe that they led to imprisonment. Criminality was not found in the subjects with fronto-temporal injuries more often than in those with injuries to the other areas. Subjects with injuries to the dominant hemisphere appeared to have more criminality than subjects with injuries to the non-dominant hemisphere. The criminal acts were often very accidental and had happened only after several decades following the head injury.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1976

The pedophilic offender with antisocial character.

The purpose of the study was to clarify how pedophilic offenders with antisocial character (psychopathy) differ from "ordinary" pedophilic offenders, among whom there are many persons with immaturity and contact difficulties. For this purpose all pedophilia cases subjected to mental examination during a period of 25 years were investigated. Of these 81 cases, 38 could be regarded as antisocial characters on the basis of the current diagnostic criteria. The others were regarded as controls. The criminals with antisocial character had also been involved in other kinds of crimes and had had hyperactivity problems more often than controls. The controls were often immature, had a low intelligence, and were less able to have relations with adult people than were antisocial characters. However, according to the present results, these features might also make criminals with antisocial character more susceptible to pedophilia.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

Specific reading retardation, hyperactive child syndrome, and juvenile delinquency.

The purpose of the study was to ascertain the extent to which a specific reading retardation leads to criminal development in adolescent and to what factors such development is due in these cases. For this purpose, 224 adolescents with a specific reading retardation were investigated. A relatively large number of these (12.1%) were prone to criminality between the ages of 15 and 20 years, whereas the severity of the specific reading retardation did not seem to contribute to this propensity. Symptoms of hyperactivity, on the other hand, seemed to contribute to criminal behaviour.

Adolescent↗