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Gong X, Hu B, Liao S, Qi B, He Q, Xia LX. Neural basis of reward expectancy inducing proactive aggression. COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2024; 24:694-706. [PMID: 38819625 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-024-01192-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/18/2024] [Indexed: 06/01/2024]
Abstract
Proactive aggression refers to deliberate and unprovoked behavior, typically motivated by personal gain or expected reward. Reward expectancy is generally recognized as a critical factor that may influence proactive aggression, but its neural mechanisms remain unknown. We conducted a task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiment to investigate the relationship between reward expectancy and proactive aggression. 37 participants (20 females, mean age = 20.8 ± 1.42, age range = 18-23 years) completed a reward-harm task. In the experiment, reward valence expectancy and reward possibility expectancy were manipulated respectively by varying amounts (low: 0.5-1.5 yuan; high: 10.5-11.5 yuan) and possibilities (low: 10%-30%; high: 70%-90%) of money that participants could obtain by choosing to aggress. Participants received fMRI scans throughout the experiment. Brain activation regions associated with reward expectancy mainly involve the middle frontal gyrus, lingual gyrus, inferior temporal gyrus, anterior cuneus, caudate nucleus, inferior frontal gyrus, cingulate gyrus, anterior central gyrus, and posterior central gyrus. Associations between brain activation and reward expectancy in the left insula, left middle frontal gyrus, left thalamus, and right middle frontal gyrus were found to be related to proactive aggression. Furthermore, the brain activation regions primarily involved in proactive aggression induced by reward expectancy were the insula, inferior frontal gyrus, inferior temporal gyrus, pallidum, and caudate nucleus. Under conditions of high reward expectancy, participants engage in more proactive aggressive behavior. Reward expectancy involves the activation of reward- and social-cognition-related brain regions, and these associations are instrumental in proactive aggressive decisions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinyu Gong
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China
- Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Bohua Hu
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China
| | - Senrong Liao
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China
| | - Bingxin Qi
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China
| | - Qinghua He
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China.
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China.
| | - Ling-Xiang Xia
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China.
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China.
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Wu Q, Xu L, Wan J, Yu Z, Lei Y. Intolerance of uncertainty affects the behavioral and neural mechanisms of higher generalization. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhae153. [PMID: 38615238 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhae153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2023] [Revised: 03/13/2024] [Accepted: 03/14/2024] [Indexed: 04/15/2024] Open
Abstract
Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is associated with several anxiety disorders. In this study, we employed rewards and losses as unconditioned positive and negative stimuli, respectively, to explore the effects of an individual's IU level on positive and negative generalizations using magnetic resonance imaging technology. Following instrumental learning, 48 participants (24 high IU; 24 low IU) were invited to complete positive and negative generalization tasks; their behavioral responses and neural activities were recorded by functional magnetic resonance imaging. The behavior results demonstrated that participants with high IUs exhibited higher generalizations to both positive and negative cues as compared with participants having low IUs. Neuroimaging results demonstrated that they exhibited higher activation levels in the right anterior insula and the default mode network (i.e. precuneus and posterior cingulate gyrus), as well as related reward circuits (i.e. caudate and right putamen). Therefore, higher generalization scores and the related abnormal brain activation may be key markers of IU as a vulnerability factor for anxiety disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qi Wu
- Institute for Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, China
| | - Lei Xu
- Institute for Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, China
| | - Jiaming Wan
- Institute for Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, China
| | - Zhang Yu
- Institute for Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, China
| | - Yi Lei
- Institute for Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, China
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Morriss J, Abend R, Zika O, Bradford DE, Mertens G. Neural and psychophysiological markers of intolerance of uncertainty. Int J Psychophysiol 2023; 184:94-99. [PMID: 36630825 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2023.01.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Jayne Morriss
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
| | - Rany Abend
- Baruch Ivcher School of Psychology, Reichman University, Herzliya, Israel
| | - Ondrej Zika
- Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany; Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Gaëtan Mertens
- Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Tilburg University, Tilburg, the Netherlands
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