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Bell C, Rokicki J, Tesli N, Gurholt TP, Hjell G, Fischer-Vieler T, Bang N, Melle I, Agartz I, Andreassen OA, Ringen PA, Rasmussen K, Dahl H, Friestad C, Haukvik UK. Hypothalamic subunit volumes and relations to violence and psychopathy in male offenders with or without a psychotic disorder. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2024:10.1007/s00406-023-01725-4. [PMID: 38353675 DOI: 10.1007/s00406-023-01725-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2023] [Accepted: 11/04/2023] [Indexed: 09/01/2024]
Abstract
The hypothalamus is key to body homeostasis, including regulating cortisol, testosterone, vasopressin, and oxytocin hormones, modulating aggressive behavior. Animal studies have linked the morphology and function of the hypothalamus to aggression and affiliation, with a subregional pattern reflecting the functional division between the hypothalamic nuclei. We explored the relationship between hypothalamic subunit volumes in violent offenders with (PSY-V) and without (NPV) a psychotic disorder, and the association with psychopathy traits. 3T MRI scans (n = 628, all male 18-70 years) were obtained from PSY-V, n = 38, NPV, n = 20, non-violent psychosis patients (PSY-NV), n = 134, and healthy controls (HC), n = 436. The total hypothalamus volume and its eleven nuclei were delineated into five subunits using Freesurfer v7.3. Psychopathy traits were assessed with Psychopathy Checklist-revised (PCL-R). ANCOVAs and linear regressions were used to analyze associations with subunit volumes. Both groups with a history of violence exhibited smaller anterior-superior subunit volumes than HC (NPV Cohen's d = 0.56, p = 0.01 and PSY-V d = 0.38, p = 0.01). There were no significant differences between HC and PSY-NV. PCL-R scores were positively associated with the inferior tubular subunit on a trend level (uncorrected p = 0.045, Cohen's d = 0.04). We found distinct hypothalamic subunit volume reductions in persons with a history of violence independent of concomitant psychotic disorder but not in persons with psychosis alone. The results provide further information about the involvement of the hypothalamus in aggression, which ultimately may lead to the development of targeted treatment for the clinical and societal challenge of aggression and violent behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christina Bell
- Department of Psychiatry, Oslo University Hospital, Nydalen, P. O. Box 4956, 0424, Oslo, Norway.
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
| | - Jaroslav Rokicki
- Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
- Centre of Research and Education in Forensic Psychiatry, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Natalia Tesli
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Tiril P Gurholt
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Gabriela Hjell
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Psychiatry, Østfold Hospital Trust, Graalum, Norway
| | - Thomas Fischer-Vieler
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Vestre Viken Hospital Trust, Drammen, Norway
| | - Nina Bang
- Department of Mental Health, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
| | - Ingrid Melle
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Ingrid Agartz
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Psychiatric Research, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Centre for Psychiatry Research, Karolinska Institutet & Stockholm Health Care Services, Stockholm Region, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Ole A Andreassen
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Petter Andreas Ringen
- Department of Psychiatry, Oslo University Hospital, Nydalen, P. O. Box 4956, 0424, Oslo, Norway
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Adult Psychiatry, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Kirsten Rasmussen
- Centre for Research and Education in Forensic Psychiatry, St. Olavs Hospital, Trondheim, Norway
- Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
- Department of Mental Health, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
| | - Hilde Dahl
- Centre for Research and Education in Forensic Psychiatry, St. Olavs Hospital, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Christine Friestad
- Centre of Research and Education in Forensic Psychiatry, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
- University College of Norwegian Correctional Service, Oslo, Norway
| | - Unn K Haukvik
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Adult Psychiatry, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Centre of Research and Education in Forensic Psychiatry, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
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Mogavero F, van Zwieten K, Buitelaar JK, Glennon JC, Henckens MJAG. Deviant circadian rhythmicity, corticosterone variability and trait testosterone levels in aggressive mice. Eur J Neurosci 2022; 55:1492-1503. [PMID: 35229387 PMCID: PMC9313802 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15632] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2021] [Revised: 12/30/2021] [Accepted: 02/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Although aggression has been linked to disturbances of circadian rhythm, insight into the neural substrate of this association is currently lacking. The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus, the master circadian clock, is regulated by clock genes and known to influence the secretion of cortisosterone and testosterone, important hormones implicated in aggression. Here, we investigated deviations in the regulation of the locomotor circadian rhythm and hormonal levels in a mouse model of abnormal aggression. We tested aggressive BALB/cJ and control BALB/cByJ mice in the resident–intruder paradigm and compared them on their locomotor circadian rhythm during a 12 h light/12 h dark cycle and constant darkness. State (serum) corticosterone and trait (hair) corticosterone and testosterone levels were determined, and immunohistochemistry was performed to assess the expression of important clock proteins, PER1 and PER2, in the core and shell of the SCN at the start of their active phase. Compared with BALB/cByJ mice, aggressive BALB/cJ mice displayed: (1) a shorter free‐running period in constant darkness; (2) reduced state corticosterone variability between circadian peak and trough but no differences in corticosterone trait levels; (3) lower testosterone trait levels; (4) higher PER1 expression in the SCN shell with no changes in PER2 in either SCN subregion during the early dark phase. Together, these results suggest that aggressive BALB/cJ mice have disturbances in different components encompassing the circadian and hormonal cycle, emphasizing their value for future investigation of the causal relationship between SCN function, circadian clocks and aggression.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Mogavero
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - K van Zwieten
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - J K Buitelaar
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - J C Glennon
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - M J A G Henckens
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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Haller J. The Role of the Lateral Hypothalamus in Violent Intraspecific Aggression-The Glucocorticoid Deficit Hypothesis. Front Syst Neurosci 2018; 12:26. [PMID: 29937719 PMCID: PMC6002688 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2018.00026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2018] [Accepted: 05/16/2018] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
This review argues for a central role of the lateral hypothalamus in those deviant forms of aggression, which result from chronic glucocorticoid deficiency. Currently, this nucleus is considered a key region of the mechanisms that control predatory aggression. However, recent findings demonstrate that it is strongly activated by aggression in subjects with a chronically downregulated hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis; moreover, this activation is causally involved in the emergence of violent aggression. The review has two parts. In the first part, we review human findings demonstrating that under certain conditions, strong stressors downregulate the HPA-axis on the long run, and that the resulting glucocorticoid deficiency is associated with violent aggression including aggressive delinquency and aggression-related psychopathologies. The second part addresses neural mechanisms in animals. We show that the experimental downregulation of HPA-axis function elicits violent aggression in rodents, and the activation of the brain circuitry that originally subserves predatory aggression accompanies this change. The lateral hypothalamus is not only an integral part of this circuitry, but can elicit deviant and violent forms of aggression. Finally, we formulate a hypothesis on the pathway that connects unfavorable social conditions to violent aggression via the neural circuitry that includes the lateral hypothalamus.
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Affiliation(s)
- József Haller
- Department of Behavioural Neurobiology, Institute of Experimental Medicine, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.,Institute of Behavioural Sciences and Law Enforcement, National University of Public Service, Budapest, Hungary
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