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Study Finds Pedophiles’ Brains Wired to Find Children Attractive
The Daily Beast ^ | May 23, 2014 | Charlotte Lytton

Posted on 05/25/2014 12:50:22 PM PDT by billorites

Pedophiles’ brains are “abnormally tuned” to find young children attractive, according to a new study published this week. The research, led by Jorge Ponseti at Germany’s University of Kiel, means that it may be possible to diagnose pedophiles in the future before they are able to offend.

The findings, published in scientific journal Biology Letters, discovered that pedophiles have the same neurological reaction to images of those they find attractive as those of people with ordinary sexual predilections, but that all the relevant cerebral areas become engaged when they see children, as opposed to fellow adults. The occipital areas, prefrontal cortex, putamen, and nucleus caudatus become engaged whenever a person finds another attractive, but the subject of this desire is inverted for pedophiles.

While studies into the cognitive wiring of sex offenders have long been a source of debate, this latest research offers some fairly conclusive proof that there is a neural pattern behind their behavior.

The paper explains: “The human brain contains networks that are tuned to face processing, and these networks appear to activate different processing streams of the reproductive domain selectively: nurturing processing in the case of child faces and sexual processing in the case of sexually preferred adult faces. This implies that the brain extracts age-related face cues of the preferred sex that inform appropriate response selection in the reproductive domains: nurturing in the case of child faces and mating in the case of adult faces.”

Usually children’s faces elicit feelings of caregiving from both sexes, whereas those of adults provide stimuli in choosing a mate. But among pedophiles, this trend is skewed, with sexual, as opposed to nurturing, emotions burgeoning.

The study analyzed the MRI scans of 56 male participants, a group that included 13 homosexual pedophiles and 11 heterosexual pedophiles, exposing them to “high arousing” images of men, women, boys, and girls. Participants then ranked each photo for attractiveness, leading researchers to their conclusion that the brain network of pedophiles is activated by sexual immaturity.

“The critical new finding is that face processing is also tuned to face cues revealing the developmental stage that is sexually preferred,” the paper reads.

Usually children’s faces elicit feelings of caregiving from both sexes, but among pedophiles, this trend is skewed, with sexual, as opposed to nurturing, emotions burgeoning. Dr. James Cantor, associate professor at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine, said he was “delighted” by the study’s results. “I have previously described pedophilia as a ‘cross-wiring’ of sexual and nurturing instincts, and this data neatly verifies that interpretation.”

Cantor has undertaken extensive research into the area, previously finding that pedophiles are more likely to be left-handed, 2.3 cm shorter than the average male, and 10 to 15 IQ points lower than the norm.

He continued: “This [new] study is definitely a step in the right direction, and I hope other researchers repeat this kind of work. There still exist many contradictions among scientists’ observations, especially in identifying exactly which areas of the brain are the most central to pedophilia. Because financial support for these kinds of studies is quite small, these studies have been quite small, permitting them to achieve only incremental progress. Truly definitive studies about what in the brain causes pedophilia, what might detect it, and what might prevent it require much more significant support.”

Ponseti said that he hoped to investigate this area further by examining whether findings could be emulated when images of children’s faces are the sole ones used. This could lead to gauging a person’s predisposition to pedophilia far more simply than any means currently in place. “We could start to look at the onset of pedophilia, which is probably in puberty at about 12 or 14 years [old],” he told The Independent.

While Cantor is correct in citing the less than abundant size of the study, the research is certainly significant in providing scope for future practicable testing that could reduce the number of pedophilic crimes committed. By being able to run these tests and examine a person’s tendency toward being sexually attracted to underage children, rehabilitative care and necessary precautions could be taken to safeguard children and ensure that those at risk of committing a crime of this ilk would not be able to do so.

Following the horrors of the Sandusky scandal and the endless conveyor belt of children kidnapped as sex slaves, finding the root of the problem and stopping it in any way possible has never been more important.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: brain; homosexualagenda; moralabsolutes; pedophileagenda; pedophilia; psychology
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To: billorites

Pedophiles brains do need to be wired.............to ole sparky!


41 posted on 05/25/2014 1:16:47 PM PDT by umgud
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To: billorites

Brains are not wired.
Some idiots think the brain is like a video game. It comes wired, out of the box.
Not so the brain or the mind.


42 posted on 05/25/2014 1:18:21 PM PDT by I want the USA back (Media: completely irresponsible. Complicit in the destruction of this country.)
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To: Berlin_Freeper

Our brains are wired to execute pedophiles.

Indeed, because they pose a clear and present danger to society.

 

43 posted on 05/25/2014 1:18:21 PM PDT by zeugma (I have never seen anyone cross the street to avoid a black man in a suit.)
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To: billorites

It’s not the “I was born that way” syndrome, it’s the “I know it’s wrong, and I CHOOSE to engage in it anyway” syndrome. It’s like gays, they know what they’re doing is not natural, and they get really angry if you point it out.


44 posted on 05/25/2014 1:19:48 PM PDT by Big Giant Head
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To: billorites

This isn’t going to cause a stir..........much


45 posted on 05/25/2014 1:21:10 PM PDT by nuconvert ( Khomeini promised change too // Hail, Chairman O)
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To: bboop

APA Says Pedophilia is Not a Mental Disorder

Read more at http://godfatherpolitics.com/578/apa-says-pedophilia-is-not-a-mental-disorder/#OpdLqvAWs90Mi0QY.99


46 posted on 05/25/2014 1:23:56 PM PDT by ilovesarah2012
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To: billorites

No, if its a medical issue then they’ll make the case that they are born that way, and it would be unconstitutional to criminalize it.


47 posted on 05/25/2014 1:24:32 PM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: billorites
...finding the root of the problem and stopping it in any way possible has never been more important.

Here we go again. "Liberals" love "root causes" as a get out of jail free card. And they are ecstatic if they can also use the same "tool" to defame or incarcerate anyone they choose.

Simple fact of the matter is that being human means controlling ones behavior. And in Western Justice we are judged on behavior, not predisposition.

Before America allowed its judicial system to be hijacked by "Liberals", pedophilia was a capital offense with swift execution following conviction. And before courts were well established on the frontier justice was even swifter.

My, what a wonderful "Liberal" world we now live in.

48 posted on 05/25/2014 1:24:38 PM PDT by DakotaGator (Weep for the lost Republic! And keep your powder dry!!)
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To: Junior_G

I’m pre-wired to find women between the ages of 25 and 60 years old attractive.


49 posted on 05/25/2014 1:24:51 PM PDT by gigster (Cogito, Ergo, Ronaldus Magnus Conservatus)
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To: nuconvert
"This isn’t going to cause a stir..........much"

It was a nice quiet Sunday up to this point.

50 posted on 05/25/2014 1:24:54 PM PDT by billorites (freepo ergo sum)
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To: billorites

I think there is a problem with definitions. When I was in high school I had a flirtatious relationship with a lady teacher. No sex but we did flirt. I was 17 and she was in her early 20s. I didn’t look like a little kid. Should she be called a pedophile?


51 posted on 05/25/2014 1:25:47 PM PDT by R. Scott (Humanity i love you because when you're hard up you pawn your Intelligence to buy a drink)
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To: zeugma

My brain is hardwired to abuse tobacco and fatty foods. It is my biological right to do so.


52 posted on 05/25/2014 1:27:04 PM PDT by Louis Foxwell (This is a wake up call. Join the Sultan Knish ping list.)
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To: billorites

BS
God didn’t wire anyone that way; acquired, changes, behaviours through live experiences...most of which are liberal, Godness crap and upbringing. God allows, he does not make people screwed up.


53 posted on 05/25/2014 1:35:18 PM PDT by CincyRichieRich (Living in the midst of a silently coup.)
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To: kingattax
what a convenient ‘finding’.

this will make it much easier to send undesirables to the govt. gulags.

It also dovetails nicely with the whole homosexuality is innate and natural agenda.

54 posted on 05/25/2014 1:36:35 PM PDT by SeeSharp
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To: billorites
I too have a "disorder"... where I find women really attractive as soon as they turn 18. I think I need to apply for Social Security Disability for that condition... before the money runs out in 2016.
55 posted on 05/25/2014 1:37:55 PM PDT by Rodamala
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To: billorites
pedophiles are more likely to be left-handed, 2.3 cm shorter than the average male, and 10 to 15 IQ points lower than the norm.

Sat it straight....Pedophiles are more likely to be left-handed, shorter (2.3 cm shorter than the average male), and Dumber (10 to 15 IQ points lower than the norm).

56 posted on 05/25/2014 1:38:19 PM PDT by SandRat (Duty - Honor - Country! What else needs said?)
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To: ilovesarah2012

“So if they “are born that way”, that means it’s okay and they need special rights. And we need parades for them.

Sick.”

Yea this is how the lefts agenda starts it! Perverts in my opinion, we will not be allowed to call it a sin soon


57 posted on 05/25/2014 1:43:19 PM PDT by blueyon (The U. S. Constitution - read it and weep)
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To: billorites
"...all the relevant cerebral areas become engaged when they see children, as opposed to fellow adults..."

Remove their eyes. Blind them. Problem solved.

58 posted on 05/25/2014 1:44:54 PM PDT by mikey_hates_everything
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To: DakotaGator

Liberals’ denial of original sin has done much to hurt our society, especially the children.


59 posted on 05/25/2014 1:46:16 PM PDT by ReformationFan
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To: billorites

Oh here it comes. The ‘they are born that way and can’t help it’ leads down a very ugly path. We seen all of this with the homo movement and look where that’s led to.


60 posted on 05/25/2014 1:46:43 PM PDT by Bullish (You ever notice that liberalism really just amounts to anti-morality?)
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