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Citation |
Siep N, Tonnaer F, van de Ven V, Arntz A, Raine A, Cima M. Brain Imaging Behav. 2018; ePub(ePub): ePub. |
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Affiliation |
Conrisq Group, Juvenile Youth Institutions (YouthCarePLUS), BJ Brabant, OGH Zetten & Pactum, Zetten, The Netherlands. |
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Copyright |
(Copyright © 2018, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group) |
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DOI |
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PMID |
30145716 |
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Abstract |
Neurobiological models propose reactive aggression as a failure in emotion regulation, caused by an imbalance between prefrontal cortical control and excessive bottom-up signals of negative affect by limbic regions, including the amygdala. Therefore, we hypothesize a negative correlation between PFC and amygdala activity (pre/post resting-state scans) in violent offenders. In this study resting-state fMRI was administered before and after an emotion (anger and happiness) provocation or engagement task within 18 male violent offenders scoring high on reactive aggression, and 18 male non-offender controls. Research in emotional pre/post resting-state showed altered connectivity by task performance. Therefore, bilateral amygdala region of interest (ROI) whole brain functional connectivity analysis tested dynamic change differences between pre and post resting-state connectivity between groups. Self-reported anger showed a positive significant relationship with medial prefrontal cortex activity in the pre-task scan and significantly increased during the emotion task in both the violent and control group. Imaging results showed a significant decrease in amygdala - medial prefrontal functional connectivity in the violent offenders and an increase in the non-offender controls after the emotion task. The opposite pattern was found for amygdala connectivity with the (para) limbic regions: violent offenders showed increased connectivity and non-offender controls showed decreased connectivity. The present results indicate that reactive aggression might stem from a focus on emotion processing, as indicated by an increase in limbic functional connectivity. The combination of a focus on emotion, along with a lack of medial prefrontal cortex regulation, has the potential to grow out of control e.g. in reactive aggression. Language: en |
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Keywords |
Amygdala seed; Emotion regulation; Functional connectivity; Impulsive aggression; Resting-state fMRI |