The Neurology of Acquired Pedophilia

Neurocase. 2020 Apr;26(2):103-114. doi: 10.1080/13554794.2020.1727929. Epub 2020 Feb 20.

Abstract

The clinicoanatomic cases of acquired pedophilia that have been published in the medical and forensic literature up to 2019 are reviewed. Twenty-two cases fit our inclusion criteria. All but one were men, and in only one case the injury was localized to the left hemisphere. Hypersexuality was present in 18 cases. The damaged areas fell within the frontotemporoinsular cortices and related subcortical nuclei; however, the anterior hypothalamus was spared. Damage to parts of the right frontotemporoinsular lobes with sparing of the anterior hypothalamus seems to be critical for the emergence of acquired pedophilia.

Keywords: Acquired pedophilia; acquired sociopathy; frontotemporoinsular cortices; hypersexuality; medial forebrain bundle; perifornical region.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Brain Diseases / complications
  • Brain Diseases / pathology*
  • Cerebral Cortex / pathology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Hypothalamus, Posterior / pathology*
  • Male
  • Medial Forebrain Bundle / pathology*
  • Middle Aged
  • Pedophilia / etiology*
  • Sexual Dysfunction, Physiological / etiology*
  • Young Adult