Neuronal correlates of personal space intrusion in violent offenders

• Published in: Brain imaging and behavior Vol. 11; no. 2; pp. 454 - 460
• Main Authors: Schienle, Anne, Wabnegger, Albert, Leitner, Mario, Leutgeb, Verena
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.04.2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adult; Aggression - physiology; Antisocial personality disorder; Behavior; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Cerebral Cortex - physiology; Criminals; Facial Expression; Hostility; Humans; Male; Medical imaging; Nerve Net - physiology; Neuroimaging; Neuropsychology; Neuroradiology; Neurosciences; Original Research; Personal Space; Prisoners; Psychiatry; Social Perception; Space Perception - physiology; Violence; Visual Perception - physiology; Austria; Violent offenders; fMRI; Insula; Personal space intrusion
• ISSN: 1931-7557; 1931-7565
• DOI: 10.1007/s11682-016-9526-5

Personal space (PS) is defined as the imagery region immediately surrounding our body, which acts as safety zone. It has been suggested that PS is enlarged in violent offenders and that this group shows an enhanced sensitivity to the reduction of interpersonal distance. In the present fMRI study high-risk violent offenders and noncriminal controls were presented with photos of neutral facial expressions by men and women. All images were shown twice, as static photos, and animated (i.e., appearing to approach the subject) in order to simulate PS intrusion. Approaching faces generally provoked activation of a fronto-parietal network and the insula. Offenders responded with greater insula activation to approaching faces, especially when the person was male. Insular activation has been recognized before as a neuronal correlate of potential threat and harm detection in PS. The increased reactivity of violent offenders is possibly a result of their hostile attribution bias.