Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Source-based morphometry reveals gray matter differences related to suicidal behavior in criminal offenders

  • Original Research
  • Published:
Brain Imaging and Behavior Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Relative to the general population, criminal offenders have a higher risk of suicide. Neurobiological deficits related to suicidal behavior have been identified in the general population, but unexamined in offenders to date. We examined the association between brain morphology and suicidal behavior in adult male criminal offenders. Brain morphology was examined using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and source-based morphometry (SBM), a multivariate alternative to VBM which analyzes brain volume in between-subject spatially independent networks. Results showed that offenders with past suicide attempts (n = 19), relative to offenders without past suicide attempts (n = 19) and non-offenders (n = 26), had reduced gray matter in an SBM component that comprised the posterior cingulate, dorsal prefrontal cortex, and amygdala. The SBM source weights were significantly associated with suicide attempts independent of other suicide risk variables (e.g., depression). VBM results were similar to the SBM results but less robust. The results reveal a potential neurobiological marker of vulnerability to suicidal behavior among criminal offenders and illustrate the utility of multivariate methods of gray matter analyses.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Drug use disorder could not be analyzed due to (quasi) separation: nearly all participants (n = 34) met criteria for a drug use disorder. C29 loading weights were not significantly different between offenders with and without a drug use disorder (t(36) = 1.44, p = 0.16)

References

  • Aguilar, E. J., García-Martí, G., Martí-Bonmatí, L., Lull, J. J., Moratal, D., Escartí, M. J., et al. (2008). Left orbitofrontal and superior temporal gyrus structural changes associated to suicidal behavior in patients with schizophrenia. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, 32(7), 1673–1676.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Angst, J., Angst, F., Gerber-Werder, R., & Gamma, A. (2005). Suicide in 406 mood-disorder patients with and without long-term medication: A 40 to 44 years' follow-up. Archives of Suicide Research, 9(3), 279–300.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Arsenault-Lapierre, G., Kim, C., & Turecki, G. (2004). Psychiatric diagnoses in 3275 suicides: A meta-analysis. BMC Psychiatry, 4(1), 37.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ashburner, J., & Friston, K. J. (2005). Unified segmentation. Neuroimage, 26(3), 839–851.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Benedetti, F., Radaelli, D., Poletti, S., Locatelli, C., Falini, A., Colombo, C., et al. (2011). Opposite effects of suicidality and lithium on gray matter volumes in bipolar depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 135(1), 139–147.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Blaauw, E., Kerkhof, A. J. F. M., & Hayes, L. M. (2005). Demographic, criminal, and psychiatric factors related to inmate suicide. Suicide and Life-threatening Behavior, 35(1), 63–75.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brådvik, L., Mattisson, C., Bogren, M., & Nettelbladt, P. (2008). Long-term suicide risk of depression in the Lundby cohort 1947–1997–severity and gender. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 117(3), 185–191.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Briere, J., & Elliott, D. M. (2003). Prevalence and psychological sequelae of self-reported childhood physical and sexual abuse in a general population sample of men and women. Child Abuse and Neglect, 27, 1205–1222.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, G. K., Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Grisham, J. R. (2000). Risk factors for suicide in psychiatric outpatients: A 20-year prospective study. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68(3), 371–377.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Buckner, R. L., Andrews-Hanna, J. R., & Schacter, D. L. (2008). The brain's default network. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1124(1), 1–38.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dahlgren, K. (1977). Attempted suicides—35 years afterward. Suicide and Life-threatening Behavior, 7(2), 75–79.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ding, Y., Lawrence, N., Olie, E., Cyprien, F., Le Bars, E., Bonafe, A., Phillips, M. L., Courtet, P., & Jollant, F. (2015). Prefrontal cortex markers of suicidal vulnerability in mood disorders: A model-based structural neuroimaging study with a translational perspective. Translational Psychiatry, 5(2), e516.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Douglas, K. S., Lilienfeld, S. O., Skeem, J. L., Poythress, N. G., Edens, J. F., & Patrick, C. J. (2008). Relation of antisocial and psychopathic traits to suicide-related behavior among offenders. Law and Human Behavior, 32(6), 511–525.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Duarte, D. G., Maila de Castro, L. N., Albuquerque, M. R., Turecki, G., Ding, Y., de Souza-Duran, F. L., Busatto, G., & Correa, H. (2017). Structural brain abnormalities in patients with type I bipolar disorder and suicidal behavior. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 265, 9–17.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dube, S. R., Anda, R. F., Felitti, V. J., Chapman, D. P., Williamson, D. F., & Giles, W. H. (2001). Childhood abuse, household dysfunction, and the risk of attempted suicide throughout the life span: Findings from the adverse childhood experiences study. JAMA, 286(24), 3089–3096.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • First, M. B., Spitzer, R. L., Gibbon, M., & Williams, J. B. W. (1997). Structured clinical interview for DSM-IV Axis I disorders – Clinical version (SCID-IV). Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fruehwald, S., Matschnig, T., Koenig, F., Bauer, P., & Frottier, P. (2004). Suicide in custody: case–control study. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 185(6), 494–498.

  • Giakoumatos, C. I., Tandon, N., Shah, J., Mathew, I. T., Brady, R. O., Clementz, B. A., et al. (2013). Are structural brain abnormalities associated with suicidal behavior in patients with psychotic disorders? Journal of Psychiatric Research, 47(10), 1389–1395.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Gunnell, D., & Lewis, G. (2005). Studying suicide from the life course perspective: Implications for prevention. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 187(3), 206–208.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hare, R. D. (2003). The hare psychopathy checklist-revised. Toronto: Multi-Health Systems.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, B. J., Pujol, J., López-Solà, M., Hernández-Ribas, R., Deus, J., Ortiz, H., et al. (2008). Consistency and functional specialization in the default mode brain network. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(28), 9781–9786.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hwang, J. P., Lee, T. W., Tsai, S. J., Chen, T. J., Yang, C. H., Lirng, J. F., & Tsai, C. F. (2010). Cortical and subcortical abnormalities in late-onset depression with history of suicide attempts investigated with MRI and voxel-based morphometry. Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology, 23(3), 171–184.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins, R., Bhugra, D., Meltzer, H., Singleton, N., Bebbington, P., Brugha, T., et al. (2005). Psychiatric and social aspects of suicidal behaviour in prisons. Psychological Medicine, 35(2), 257–269.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, J. A., Wang, F., Liu, J., Blond, B. N., Wallace, A., Liu, J., Spencer, L., Cox Lippard, E. T., Purves, K. L., Landeros-Weisenberger, A., & Hermes, E. (2017). Multimodal neuroimaging of frontolimbic structure and function associated with suicide attempts in adolescents and young adults with bipolar disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 174(7), 667–675.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jollant, F., Lawrence, N. S., Giampietro, V., Brammer, M. J., Fullana, M. A., Drapier, D., et al. (2008). Orbitofrontal cortex response to angry faces in men with histories of suicide attempts. American Journal of Psychiatry, 165, 740–748.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kašpárek, T., Mareček, R., Schwarz, D., Přikryl, R., Vaníček, J., Mikl, M., et al. (2010). Source-based morphometry of gray matter volume in men with first-episode schizophrenia. Human Brain Mapping, 31(2), 300–310.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Li, Y. O., Adalı, T., & Calhoun, V. D. (2007). Estimating the number of independent components for functional magnetic resonance imaging data. Human Brain Mapping, 28(11), 1251–1266.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • London, E. D., Ernst, M., Grant, S., Bonson, K., & Weinstein, A. (2000). Orbitofrontal cortex and human drug abuse: Functional imaging. Cerebral Cortex, 10(3), 334–342.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Minzenberg, M. J., Lesh, T. A., Niendam, T. A., Yoon, J. H., Cheng, Y., Rhoades, R. N., et al. (2015). Control-related frontal-striatal function is associated with past suicidal ideation and behavior in patients with recent-onset psychotic major mood disorders. Journal of Affective Disorders, 188, 202–209.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Monkul, E., Hatch, J. P., Nicoletti, M. A., Spence, S., Brambilla, P., Lacerda, A. L. T. d., et al. (2007). Fronto-limbic brain structures in suicidal and non-suicidal female patients with major depressive disorder. Molecular Psychiatry, 12(4), 360–366.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nock, M. K., & Kessler, R. C. (2006). Prevalence of and risk factors for suicide attempts versus suicide gestures: Analysis of the National Comorbidity Survey. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 115(3), 616–623.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ochsner, K. N., Silvers, J. A., & Buhle, J. T. (2012). Functional imaging studies of emotion regulation: A synthetic review and evolving model of the cognitive control of emotion. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1251(1), E1–E24.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Pan, L., Hassel, S., Segreti, A., Nau, S., Brent, D., & Phillips, M. (2013). Differential patterns of activity and functional connectivity in emotion processing neural circuitry to angry and happy faces in adolescents with and without suicide attempt. Psychological Medicine, 43(10), 2129–2142.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Patton, J. H., Stanford, M. S., & Barratt, E. S. (1995). Factor structure of the barratt impulsiveness scale. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 51(6), 768–774.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, M. L., Ladouceur, C. D., & Drevets, W. C. (2008). A neural model of voluntary and automatic emotion regulation: Implications for understanding the pathophysiology and neurodevelopment of bipolar disorder. Molecular Psychiatry, 13(9), 833–857.

    Google Scholar 

  • Posner, K., Brown, G. K., Stanley, B., Brent, D. A., Yershova, K. V., Oquendo, M. A., et al. (2011). The Columbia–suicide severity rating scale: Initial validity and internal consistency findings from three multisite studies with adolescents and adults. American Journal of Psychiatry., 168, 1266–1277.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raichle, M. E., MacLeod, A. M., Snyder, A. Z., Powers, W. J., Gusnard, D. A., & Shulman, G. L. (2001). A default mode of brain function. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 98(2), 676–682.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reisch, T., Seifritz, E., Esposito, F., Wiest, R., Valach, L., & Michel, K. (2010). An fMRI study on mental pain and suicidal behavior. Journal of Affective Disorders, 126(1–2), 321–325.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rentería, M. E., Schmaal, L., Hibar, D. P., Couvy-Duchesne, B., Strike, L. T., Mills, N. T., de Zubicaray, G. I., McMahon, K. L., Medland, S. E., Gillespie, N. A., & Hatton, S. N. (2017). Subcortical brain structure and suicidal behaviour in major depressive disorder: A meta-analysis from the ENIGMA-MDD working group. Translational Psychiatry, 7(5), e1116.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, J. J., Lopez, S. J., & Werth, T. R. (1999). Development and preliminary validation of a Satz-Mogel short form of the Wais-III in a sample of persons with substance abuse disorders. International Journal of Neuroscience, 98, 131–140.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Scheuerecker, J., Meisenzahl, E. M., Koutsouleris, N., Linn, J., Wiesmann, M., Brückmann, H., et al. (2010). Orbitofrontal volume reductions during emotion recognition in patients with major depression. Journal of psychiatry & neuroscience: JPN, 35(5), 311–320.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoenbaum, G., Roesch, M. R., & Stalnaker, T. A. (2006). Orbitofrontal cortex, decision-making and drug addiction. Trends in Neurosciences, 29(2), 116–124.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Silvers, J. A., Hubbard, A. D., Chaudhury, S., Biggs, E., Shu, J., Grunebaum, M. F., et al. (2016). Suicide attempters with borderline personality disorder show differential orbitofrontal and parietal recruitment when reflecting on aversive memories. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 81, 71–78.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Suominen, K., Isometsä, E., Suokas, J., Haukka, J., Achte, K., & Lönnqvist, J. (2004). Completed suicide after a suicide attempt: A 37-year follow-up study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 161(3), 562–563.

    Google Scholar 

  • Swann, A. C., Dougherty, D. M., Pazzaglia, P. J., Pham, M., Steinberg, J. L., & Moeller, F. G. (2005). Increased impulsivity associated with severity of suicide attempt history in patients with bipolar disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 162(9), 1680–1687.

    Google Scholar 

  • Swanson, J. W., Swartz, M. S., Van Dorn, R. A., Elbogen, E. B., Wagner, H. R., Rosenheck, R. A., et al. (2006). A national study of violent behavior in persons with schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry, 63(5), 490–499.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Swogger, M. T., You, S., Cashman-Brown, S., & Conner, K. R. (2011). Childhood physical abuse, aggression, and suicide attempts among criminal offenders. Psychiatry Research, 185(3), 363–367.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • van Heeringen, K., Bijttebier, S., Desmyter, S., Vervaet, M., & Baeken, C. (2014). Is there a neuroanatomical basis of the vulnerability to suicidal behavior? A coordinate-based meta-analysis of structural and functional MRI studies. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8, 824.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Volkow, N. D., & Fowler, J. S. (2000). Addiction, a disease of compulsion and drive: Involvement of the orbitofrontal cortex. Cerebral Cortex, 10(3), 318–325.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wager, T. D., Davidson, M. L., Hughes, B. L., Lindquist, M. A., & Ochsner, K. N. (2008). Prefrontal-subcortical pathways mediating successful emotion regulation. Neuron, 59(6), 1037–1050.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, G., Koch, K., Schachtzabel, C., Peikert, G., Sauer, H., & Schlösser, R. (2008). Enhanced rostral anterior cingulate cortex activation during cognitive control is related to orbitofrontal volume reduction in unipolar depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 107, S76–S77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, G., Koch, K., Schachtzabel, C., Schultz, C. C., Sauer, H., & Schlösser, R. G. (2011). Structural brain alterations in patients with major depressive disorder and high risk for suicide: Evidence for a distinct neurobiological entity? Neuroimage, 54(2), 1607–1614.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wechsler, D. (1997). Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. New York: Psychological Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolf, R. C., Huber, M., Lepping, P., Sambataro, F., Depping, M. S., Karner, M., et al. (2014). Source-based morphometry reveals distinct patterns of aberrant brain volume in delusional infestation. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, 48, 112–116.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Xu, L., Groth, K. M., Pearlson, G., Schretlen, D. J., & Calhoun, V. D. (2009). Source-based morphometry: The use of independent component analysis to identify gray matter differences with application to schizophrenia. Human Brain Mapping, 30(3), 711–724.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zalsman, G., Hawton, K., Wasserman, D., van Heeringen, K., Arensman, E., Sarchiapone, M., et al. (2016). Suicide prevention strategies revisited: 10-year systematic review. Lancet Psychiatry, 3, 646–659.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (P20GM103472; R01DA026505; R01MH070539).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Mind Research Network and Lovelace Biomedical and Environmental Research Institute, 1101 Yale Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM, 87106, USA

    Carla L. Harenski, Keith A. Harenski, Vince D. Calhoun & Kent A. Kiehl

  2. University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Vince D. Calhoun & Kent A. Kiehl

Authors
  1. Carla L. Harenski
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Keith A. Harenski
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Vince D. Calhoun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Kent A. Kiehl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Carla L. Harenski.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Harenski, C.L., Harenski, K.A., Calhoun, V.D. et al. Source-based morphometry reveals gray matter differences related to suicidal behavior in criminal offenders. Brain Imaging and Behavior 14, 1–9 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-018-9957-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-018-9957-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation