The physiology of RET – the stimulation of inner brain mechanisms associated with neurogenesis – makes me lean toward a positive expectation.

According to new research released by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), pedophilia might be the result of faulty connections in the brain. MRIs and sophisticated computer analysis techniques compared a group of pedophiles with a group of non-sexual criminals. The pedophiles had significantly less “white matter” – which is responsible for wiring the different parts of the brain together.

The study, published in the Journal of Psychiatry Research, challenges the commonly held belief that pedophilia is brought on by childhood trauma or abuse. This finding is the strongest evidence yet that pedophilia is instead the result of a problem in brain development.

Pedophiles tend to have lower IQs, are three times more likely to be left-handed, have higher rates of head injuries in childhood, and even tend to be physically shorter than non-pedophiles.

“There is nothing in this research that says pedophiles shouldn’t be held criminally responsible for their actions,” said Dr. James Cantor, CAMH Psychologist and lead scientist of the study, “Not being able to choose your sexual interests doesn’t mean you can’t choose what you do.”

This discovery suggests that much more research attention should be paid to how the brain governs sexual interests. Such information could potentially yield strategies for preventing the development of pedophilia.

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (ttp://www.camh.net)

I’m particularly interested in the line of reasoning that pedophilia is due to a miswiring in the brain rather than a learned behavior because I’ve read accounts of convicted pedophiles changing their behaviors and sexual preferences after receiving sessions of Rapid Eye Technology (RET) – I’ve spoken with two such individuals. However, the proof of that pudding is the low incidence of pedophilia recidivisim after RET sessions. I’m unaware of any studies to back my claim – I hope someone with an interest in forensics might take up the challenge and test convicted pedophiles before and after sessions of RET to see if, indeed, their preferences have changed. The physiology of RET – the stimulation of inner brain mechanisms associated with neurogenesis – makes me lean toward a positive expectation of such testing/studies.