TY - JOUR

T1 - Human face processing is tuned to sexual age preferences

AU - Ponseti, J

AU - Granert, O

AU - van Eimeren, T

AU - Jansen, O

AU - Wolff, S

AU - Beier, K

AU - Deuschl, G

AU - Bosinski, H

AU - Siebner, H

N1 - © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

PY - 2014

Y1 - 2014

N2 - Human faces can motivate nurturing behaviour or sexual behaviour when adults see a child or an adult face, respectively. This suggests that face processing is tuned to detecting age cues of sexual maturity to stimulate the appropriate reproductive behaviour: either caretaking or mating. In paedophilia, sexual attraction is directed to sexually immature children. Therefore, we hypothesized that brain networks that normally are tuned to mature faces of the preferred gender show an abnormal tuning to sexual immature faces in paedophilia. Here, we use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to test directly for the existence of a network which is tuned to face cues of sexual maturity. During fMRI, participants sexually attracted to either adults or children were exposed to various face images. In individuals attracted to adults, adult faces activated several brain regions significantly more than child faces. These brain regions comprised areas known to be implicated in face processing, and sexual processing, including occipital areas, the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and, subcortically, the putamen and nucleus caudatus. The same regions were activated in paedophiles, but with a reversed preferential response pattern.

AB - Human faces can motivate nurturing behaviour or sexual behaviour when adults see a child or an adult face, respectively. This suggests that face processing is tuned to detecting age cues of sexual maturity to stimulate the appropriate reproductive behaviour: either caretaking or mating. In paedophilia, sexual attraction is directed to sexually immature children. Therefore, we hypothesized that brain networks that normally are tuned to mature faces of the preferred gender show an abnormal tuning to sexual immature faces in paedophilia. Here, we use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to test directly for the existence of a network which is tuned to face cues of sexual maturity. During fMRI, participants sexually attracted to either adults or children were exposed to various face images. In individuals attracted to adults, adult faces activated several brain regions significantly more than child faces. These brain regions comprised areas known to be implicated in face processing, and sexual processing, including occipital areas, the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and, subcortically, the putamen and nucleus caudatus. The same regions were activated in paedophiles, but with a reversed preferential response pattern.

KW - Age Factors

KW - Brain

KW - Case-Control Studies

KW - Face

KW - Female

KW - Humans

KW - Magnetic Resonance Imaging

KW - Male

KW - Pedophilia

KW - Sexuality

U2 - 10.1098/rsbl.2014.0200

DO - 10.1098/rsbl.2014.0200

M3 - Letter

C2 - 24850896

VL - 10

SP - 1

EP - 4

JO - Biology Letters

JF - Biology Letters

SN - 1744-9561

IS - 5

M1 - 20140200

ER -