Summary: People with kleptomania—an uncontrollable urge to steal or shoplift—display distinctive eye movement patterns and altered prefrontal brain activity when exposed to situational cues linked to their behavior.
Source: Kyoto University
Researchers at Kyoto University report that individuals diagnosed with kleptomania show unique gaze behaviors and prefrontal cortex responses when viewing images and videos that include situational cues associated with shoplifting, patterns not seen in healthy comparison subjects.
Lead author Yukiori Goto suggests these findings could inform interventions to reduce impulsive crimes like shoplifting and help develop clinical strategies tailored to the disorder’s underlying mechanisms.
Previous research on substance addiction has established that environmental or situational cues can trigger intense cravings—a phenomenon called cue-induced craving. This new study provides preliminary evidence that similar cue-driven processes may operate in kleptomania, a form of impulse control disorder.
Although the study is preliminary and based on a modest sample size, Goto notes that the results point toward shared neural and behavioral mechanisms between kleptomania and other behavioral or substance use disorders. Such mechanisms have also been implicated in gambling, gaming, and problematic Internet use.
Kleptomania is defined by compulsive, repetitive stealing that is driven by the act itself rather than by economic need. Because conventional punitive approaches often fail to prevent repeated offenses, recognizing kleptomania as a disorder amenable to therapeutic treatment is important for reducing recidivism and addressing the behavior clinically.
Although classified within “Disruptive, Impulse-Control, and Conduct Disorders” by psychiatric authorities, kleptomania remains relatively understudied. This investigation adds empirical data on how situational cues may differentially affect people with kleptomania compared with healthy individuals.
The study recruited 11 patients diagnosed with kleptomania and 27 healthy adult participants. Subjects viewed a series of still images and video clips, some containing situational cues relevant to shoplifting—such as store interiors and merchandise—and others showing neutral scenes like natural landscapes.
While participants viewed the stimuli, researchers recorded eye movements using eye-tracking technology to assess gaze patterns and attention allocation. At the same time, brain activity in the prefrontal cortex was measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), a non-invasive technique that monitors hemoglobin changes linked to neural activity.
Analysis of the fNIRS data revealed altered activity in the right prefrontal cortex of kleptomania patients during task performance. These neural differences corresponded with the distinct gaze patterns observed when patients viewed images and videos containing situational cues, suggesting a coordinated behavioral and neural response to cue exposure.
The altered prefrontal responses observed in this group are consistent with findings from other behavioral addictions, where impaired risk estimation and maladaptive reward-system learning contribute to repetitive, compulsive actions.
Goto and colleagues propose that recognizing these cue-triggered neural and attentional processes could guide the development of therapeutic approaches aimed at maladaptive learning and cue reactivity. Such treatments might complement or replace punitive measures, focusing instead on reducing cue-induced urges and improving impulse control.
About this addiction and neuroscience research news
Author: Press Office
Source: Kyoto University
Contact: Press Office – Kyoto University
Image: The image is credited to KyotoU/Jake Tobiyama
Original Research: Closed access.
“Distinct Situational Cue Processing in Individuals with Kleptomania: A Preliminary Study” by Yui Asaoka et al. International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
Abstract
Distinct Situational Cue Processing in Individuals with Kleptomania: A Preliminary Study
Background
Impulse control disorders such as kleptomania have been proposed to share features with addictive disorders, yet little is known about whether affected individuals process environmental cues linked to their behavior differently from healthy people. This study examined behavioral and neural responses to such situational cues in individuals diagnosed with kleptomania.
Methods
The study compared healthy adults with kleptomania patients whose symptoms included repetitive, uncontrolled shoplifting. Participants viewed images and videos that either included situational cues (for example, a grocery store interior) or did not. Eye-tracking recorded gaze patterns, while functional near-infrared spectroscopy measured prefrontal cortex (PFC) activity. Additional PFC responses were evaluated while subjects watched virtual reality video clips that contained situational cues or neutral content.
Results
Kleptomania patients displayed gaze patterns that were distinct when viewing images with situational cues compared with other images; these cue-specific gaze differences were not found in healthy participants. Correspondingly, PFC local network responses—indexed by hemoglobin changes—differed markedly for cue-containing images and videos in the kleptomania group, while PFC responses in healthy subjects remained consistent across stimulus types.
Conclusions
The findings suggest that individuals with kleptomania perceive and neurologically respond to situational cues associated with their problematic behaviors in ways that differ from healthy adults. These preliminary results support further investigation into cue-driven mechanisms in impulse control disorders and the potential for targeted therapeutic interventions.