• Verena Leutgeb, Albert Wabnegger, Mario Leitner, Thomas Zussner, Wilfried Scharmüller, Doris Klug, and Anne Schienle.
• Clinical Psychology, University of Graz, BioTechMedGraz, Universitätsplatz 2/DG, 8010 Graz, Austria. Electronic address: verena.leutgeb@uni-graz.at.
• Neurosci. Lett. 2016 Jan 1; 610: 160-4.

AbstractIt has repeatedly been reported, that there are differences in grey matter volume (GMV) between violent offenders and non-violent controls. However, it remains unclear, if structural brain abnormalities influence resting-state functional connectivity (RS-fc) between brain regions. Therefore, in the present investigation, 31 male high-risk violent prisoners were compared to 30 non-criminal controls with respect to RS-fc between brain areas. Seed regions for resting-state analysis were selected based on GMV differences between the two groups. Overall, inmates had more GMV in the cerebellum than controls and revealed higher RS-fc between the cerebellum and the amygdala. In contrast, controls relative to prisoners showed higher RS-fc between the cerebellum and the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). In addition, controls showed more GMV in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Inmates relative to controls had higher RS-fc within the DLPFC. Results are discussed with respect to cerebellar contributions to a brain network underlying moral behavior and violence. Enhanced cerebellar-amygdala connectivity in violent offenders might reflect alterations in the processing of moral emotions. Heightened functional connectivity between cerebellar hemispheres and the OFC in controls could be a correlate of enhanced emotion regulation capacities. Higher functional intra-DLPFC connectivity in violent offenders might represent an effort to regulate emotions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

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