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Cerebrospinal Fluid: Monoamine Metabolites Among Habitually Violent and Impulsive Offenders

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Biological Contributions to Crime Causation

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASID,volume 40))

Abstract

A role for serotonin in the development of depressive illness has long been suspected. Grounds for this suspicion come from the demonstrable alterations in serotonin turnover brought about by many antidepressant treatments, findings of reduced levels of serotonin in the brains of suicide victims, and reports of the serotonin metabolite, 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-RIAA) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from patients with major depressive disorders. However, these findings are not consistent, and there is evidence that only about 30 percent of depressed patients have low 5-HIAA levels in their CSF. There is also substantial overlap in 5-HIAA levels between patients and healthy controls (Träskman, Asberg, Bertilsson & Sjästrand, 1981; Asberg et al., 1984; Asberg, Eriksson, Martensson, Träskman-Benz, & Wagner, 1986).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Helsinki University Central Hospital, Finland

    Matti Virkkunen

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  1. Matti Virkkunen
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Brogden Hall, 1202 West Johnson Street, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA

    Terrie E. Moffitt

  2. Social Science Research Institute, and Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Denney Research Building, Los Angeles, California, 90089-1111, USA

    Sarnoff A. Mednick

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© 1988 Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht

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Virkkunen, M. (1988). Cerebrospinal Fluid: Monoamine Metabolites Among Habitually Violent and Impulsive Offenders. In: Moffitt, T.E., Mednick, S.A. (eds) Biological Contributions to Crime Causation. NATO ASI Series, vol 40. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2768-1_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2768-1_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-7744-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-2768-1

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