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Paliakkara J, Ellenberg S, Ursino A, Smith AA, Evans J, Strayhorn J, Faraone SV, Zhang-James Y. A Systematic Review of the Etiology and Neurobiology of Intermittent Explosive Disorder. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2024:2024.09.12.24313573. [PMID: 39314952 PMCID: PMC11419216 DOI: 10.1101/2024.09.12.24313573] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/25/2024]
Abstract
Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED) is characterized by repeated inability to control aggressive impulses. Although the etiology and neurobiology of impulsive anger and impulse control disorders have been reviewed, no systematic review on these aspects has been published for IED specifically. We conducted a systematic search in seven electronic databases for publications about IED, screened by two authors, and retained twenty-four studies for the review. Our findings highlight a multifactorial etiology and neurobiology of IED, emphasizing the role of the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex in emotional regulation and impulse control, and supporting interventions that target serotonergic signaling. Research also shows that childhood trauma and adverse family environment may significantly contribute to the development of IED. Yet, genetic studies focusing on IED were largely lacking, despite many examining the genetics underlying aggression as a general trait or other related disorders. Future research using consistently defined IED as a phenotype is required to better understand the etiology and underlying mechanisms and assist in informing the development of more effective interventions for IED.
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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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Potegal M, Nordman JC. Non-angry aggressive arousal and angriffsberietschaft: A narrative review of the phenomenology and physiology of proactive/offensive aggression motivation and escalation in people and other animals. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 147:105110. [PMID: 36822384 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2022] [Revised: 02/14/2023] [Accepted: 02/18/2023] [Indexed: 02/23/2023]
Abstract
Human aggression typologies largely correspond with those for other animals. While there may be no non-human equivalent of angry reactive aggression, we propose that human proactive aggression is similar to offense in other animals' dominance contests for territory or social status. Like predation/hunting, but unlike defense, offense and proactive aggression are positively reinforcing, involving dopamine release in accumbens. The drive these motivational states provide must suffice to overcome fear associated with initiating risky fights. We term the neural activity motivating proactive aggression "non-angry aggressive arousal", but use "angriffsberietschaft" for offense motivation in other animals to acknowledge possible differences. Temporal variation in angriffsberietschaft partitions fights into bouts; engendering reduced anti-predator vigilance, redirected aggression and motivational over-ride. Increased aggressive arousal drives threat-to-attack transitions, as in verbal-to-physical escalation and beyond that, into hyper-aggression. Proactive aggression and offense involve related neural activity states. Cingulate, insular and prefrontal cortices energize/modulate aggression through a subcortical core containing subnuclei for each aggression type. These proposals will deepen understanding of aggression across taxa, guiding prevention/intervention for human violence.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jacob C Nordman
- Department of Physiology, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Carbondale, IL, USA.
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Jeung-Maarse H, Schmitgen MM, Schmitt R, Bertsch K, Herpertz SC. Oxytocin effects on amygdala reactivity to angry faces in males and females with antisocial personality disorder. Neuropsychopharmacology 2023; 48:946-953. [PMID: 36941365 PMCID: PMC10156793 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-023-01549-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2022] [Revised: 01/29/2023] [Accepted: 02/04/2023] [Indexed: 03/23/2023]
Abstract
The amygdala is a key region in current neurocircuitry models of reactive aggression as it is crucially involved in detecting social threat and provocation. An increased amygdala reactivity to angry faces has been reported in aggression-prone individuals and the neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) could dampen anger-related amygdala reactivity in a number of mental disorders. One example is the antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) which has so far only been studied in limited numbers. To address the question whether OT can normalize amygdala hyperreactivity to emotional faces, we conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment with 20 men and 18 women with ASPD and 20 male and 20 female healthy control (HC) participants in a double-blind, randomized, placebo (PLC)-controlled within-subject design. Participants were exposed to an emotion classification task (fearful, angry, and happy faces) after receiving an intranasal dose (24 IU) of synthetic OT or PLC. We found OT to attenuate right amygdala hyperactivity to angry faces in participants with ASPD to such an extent that the intensity of amygdala activity in the ASPD group in the OT condition decreased to the level of amygdala activity in the PLC condition in the HC group. There was also a trend that OT effects were generally larger in women than in men. These findings suggest that OT differentially modulates the amygdala following social threatening or provoking cues in dependence of psychopathology (ASPD vs. HC) and sex (male vs. female). Particularly female ASPD patients could benefit from OT in the treatment of reactive aggression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haang Jeung-Maarse
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Evangelisches Klinikum Bethel (EvKB), Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany.
- Department of General Psychiatry, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Mike M Schmitgen
- Department of General Psychiatry, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Ruth Schmitt
- Department of General Psychiatry, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Katja Bertsch
- Department of General Psychiatry, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Sabine C Herpertz
- Department of General Psychiatry, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
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Grecucci A, Sorella S, Consolini J. Decoding individual differences in expressing and suppressing anger from structural brain networks: A supervised machine learning approach. Behav Brain Res 2023; 439:114245. [PMID: 36470420 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2022.114245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2022] [Revised: 11/28/2022] [Accepted: 11/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Anger can be broken down into different elements: a transitory state (state anger), a stable personality feature (trait anger), a tendency to express it (anger-out), or to suppress it (anger-in), and the ability to regulate it (anger control). These elements are characterized by individual differences that vary across a continuum. Among them, the abilities to express and suppress anger are of particular relevance as they determine outcomes and enable successful anger management in daily situations. The aim of this study was to demonstrate that anger suppression and expression can be decoded by patterns of grey matter of specific well-known brain networks. To this aim, a supervised machine learning technique, known as Kernel Ridge Regression, was used to predict anger expression and suppression scores of 212 healthy subjects from the grey matter concentration. Results show that individual differences in anger suppression were predicted by two grey matter patterns associated with the Default-Mode Network and the Salience Network. Additionally, individual differences in anger expression were predicted by a circuit mainly involving subcortical and fronto-temporal regions when considering whole brain grey matter features. These results expand previous findings regarding the neural bases of anger by showing that individual differences in specific anger-related components can be predicted by the grey matter features of specific networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Grecucci
- Clinical and Affective Neuroscience Lab, Cli.A.N. Lab, Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences - DiPSCo, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy; Center for Medical Sciences, CISMed, University of Trento, Trento, Italy.
| | - Sara Sorella
- Clinical and Affective Neuroscience Lab, Cli.A.N. Lab, Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences - DiPSCo, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy.
| | - Jennifer Consolini
- Clinical and Affective Neuroscience Lab, Cli.A.N. Lab, Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences - DiPSCo, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy.
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Nikolic M, Pezzoli P, Jaworska N, Seto MC. Brain responses in aggression-prone individuals: A systematic review and meta-analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of anger- and aggression-eliciting tasks. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2022; 119:110596. [PMID: 35803398 DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2022.110596] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2022] [Revised: 06/25/2022] [Accepted: 06/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Reactive aggression in response to perceived threat or provocation is part of humans' adaptive behavioral repertoire. However, high levels of aggression can lead to the violation of social and legal norms. Understanding brain function in individuals with high levels of aggression as they process anger- and aggression-eliciting stimuli is critical for refining explanatory models of aggression and thereby improving interventions. Three neurobiological models of reactive aggression - the limbic hyperactivity, prefrontal hypoactivity, and dysregulated limbic-prefrontal connectivity models - have been proposed. However, these models are based on neuroimaging studies involving mainly non-aggressive individuals, leaving it unclear which model best describes brain function in those with a history of aggression. We conducted a systematic literature search (PubMed and Psycinfo) and Multilevel Kernel Density meta-analysis (MKDA) of nine functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies (eight included in the between-group analysis [i.e., aggression vs. control groups], five in the within-group analysis). Studies examined brain responses to tasks putatively eliciting anger and aggression in individuals with a history of aggression alone and relative to controls. Individuals with a history of aggression exhibited greater activity in the superior temporal gyrus and in regions comprising the cognitive control and default mode networks (right posterior cingulate cortex, precentral gyrus, precuneus, right inferior frontal gyrus) during reactive aggression relative to baseline conditions. Compared to controls, individuals with a history of aggression exhibited increased activity in limbic regions (left hippocampus, left amygdala, left parahippocampal gyrus) and temporal regions (superior, middle, inferior temporal gyrus), and reduced activity in occipital regions (left occipital cortex, left calcarine cortex). These findings lend support to the limbic hyperactivity model in individuals with a history of aggression, and further indicate altered temporal and occipital activity in anger- and aggression-eliciting conditions involving face and speech processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maja Nikolic
- McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada; McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
| | - Patrizia Pezzoli
- University College London, London, United Kingdom; University of Ottawa's Institute of Mental Health Research at The Royal, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
| | - Natalia Jaworska
- University of Ottawa's Institute of Mental Health Research at The Royal, Ottawa, ON, Canada; Department of Cellular & Molecular Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
| | - Michael C Seto
- University of Ottawa's Institute of Mental Health Research at The Royal, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
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Nassif JB, Felthous AR. Mapping the neurocircuitry of impulsive aggression through the pharmacologic review of anti-impulsive aggressive agents. J Forensic Sci 2022; 67:844-853. [PMID: 35106768 DOI: 10.1111/1556-4029.15000] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2021] [Revised: 01/10/2022] [Accepted: 01/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Impulsive aggression, in contradistinction to premeditated aggression in humans or predatory aggression in animals, corresponds to defensive aggression in animal models. At the core of the neurocircuitry of impulsive aggression, from murine to feline to human species, it is the medial amygdala-mediobasal hypothalamus-dorsal periaqueductal gray pathway. Here, we update current knowledge on the neurocircuitry of impulsive aggression by placing the neurocircuitry and its neurophysiological substrates into the top-down/bottom-up hypothesis of impulsive aggression. We then reverse the neurotranslational approach, which applies neuroscience to developing therapeutic drugs, and apply current understanding of potential mechanisms of anti-impulsive aggression agents to further clarify, at least heuristically and hypothetically, the dynamic biochemical components of the neurocircuitry of impulsive aggression. To do this, we searched the medical literature for studies attempting to clarify the neurobiological and neurochemical effects of the five most widely studied anti-impulsive aggressive agents, particularly as they pertain to the top-down/bottom-up hypothesis. Multiple different mechanisms are discussed, all of which fitting in the hypothesis by way of either promoting the "top-down" part (i.e., enhancing inhibitory neurotransmitters), or suppressing the "bottom-up" part (i.e., decreasing excitatory neurotransmitters). The hypothesis appears consistent with the current psychopharmacological understanding of these agents, as well as to account for the likely multifactorial etiology of the condition. Limitations of the hypothesis and future directions are finally discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joe Bou Nassif
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Alan R Felthous
- Forensic Psychiatry Division, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
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Sontate KV, Rahim Kamaluddin M, Naina Mohamed I, Mohamed RMP, Shaikh MF, Kamal H, Kumar J. Alcohol, Aggression, and Violence: From Public Health to Neuroscience. Front Psychol 2022; 12:699726. [PMID: 35002823 PMCID: PMC8729263 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.699726] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2021] [Accepted: 11/17/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Alcohol has been associated with violent crimes and domestic violence across many nations. Various etiological factors were linked to chronic alcohol use and violence including psychiatric comorbidities of perpetrators such as personality disorders, mood disorders, and intermittent explosive disorders. Aggression is the precursor of violence and individuals prone to aggressive behaviors are more likely to commit impulsive violent crimes, especially under the influence of alcohol. Findings from brain studies indicate long-term alcohol consumption induced morphological changes in brain regions involved in self-control, decision-making, and emotional processing. In line with this, the inherent dopaminergic and serotonergic anomalies seen in aggressive individuals increase their susceptibility to commit violent crimes when alcohol present in their system. In relation to this, this article intends to investigate the influence of alcohol on aggression with sociopsychological and neuroscientific perspectives by looking into comorbidity of personality or mood disorders, state of the mind during alcohol consumption, types of beverages, environmental trigger, neurochemical changes, and gender differences that influence individual responses to alcohol intake and susceptibility to intoxicated aggression.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mohammad Rahim Kamaluddin
- Centre for Research in Psychology and Human Well-Being, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia
| | - Isa Naina Mohamed
- Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Rashidi Mohamed Pakri Mohamed
- Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Mohd Farooq Shaikh
- Neuropharmacology Research Laboratory, Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Subang Jaya, Malaysia
| | - Haziq Kamal
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Jaya Kumar
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
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Nani A, Manuello J, Mancuso L, Liloia D, Costa T, Vercelli A, Duca S, Cauda F. The pathoconnectivity network analysis of the insular cortex: A morphometric fingerprinting. Neuroimage 2020; 225:117481. [PMID: 33122115 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117481] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2020] [Revised: 10/14/2020] [Accepted: 10/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Brain disorders tend to impact on many different regions in a typical way: alterations do not spread randomly; rather, they seem to follow specific patterns of propagation that show a strong overlap between different pathologies. The insular cortex is one of the brain areas more involved in this phenomenon, as it seems to be altered by a wide range of brain diseases. On these grounds we thoroughly investigated the impact of brain disorders on the insular cortices analyzing the patterns of their structural co-alteration. We therefore investigated, applying a network analysis approach to meta-analytic data, 1) what pattern of gray matter alteration is associated with each of the insular cortex parcels; 2) whether or not this pattern correlates and overlaps with its functional meta-analytic connectivity; and, 3) the behavioral profile related to each insular co-alteration pattern. All the analyses were repeated considering two solutions: one with two clusters and another with three. Our study confirmed that the insular cortex is one of the most altered cerebral regions among the cortical areas, and exhibits a dense network of co-alteration including a prevalence of cortical rather than sub-cortical brain regions. Regions of the frontal lobe are the most involved, while occipital lobe is the less affected. Furthermore, the co-alteration and co-activation patterns greatly overlap each other. These findings provide significant evidence that alterations caused by brain disorders are likely to be distributed according to the logic of network architecture, in which brain hubs lie at the center of networks composed of co-altered areas. For the first time, we shed light on existing differences between insula sub-regions even in the pathoconnectivity domain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Nani
- GCS fMRI, Koelliker Hospital and University of Turin, Turin, Italy; FOCUS Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Via Verdi, 10, Turin 10124, Italy
| | - Jordi Manuello
- GCS fMRI, Koelliker Hospital and University of Turin, Turin, Italy; FOCUS Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Via Verdi, 10, Turin 10124, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Mancuso
- FOCUS Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Via Verdi, 10, Turin 10124, Italy
| | - Donato Liloia
- GCS fMRI, Koelliker Hospital and University of Turin, Turin, Italy; FOCUS Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Via Verdi, 10, Turin 10124, Italy
| | - Tommaso Costa
- GCS fMRI, Koelliker Hospital and University of Turin, Turin, Italy; FOCUS Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Via Verdi, 10, Turin 10124, Italy.
| | - Alessandro Vercelli
- Neuroscience Institute of Turin, Turin, Italy; Neuroscience Institute Cavalieri Ottolenghi, Turin, Italy; Department of Neuroscience, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Sergio Duca
- GCS fMRI, Koelliker Hospital and University of Turin, Turin, Italy; FOCUS Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Via Verdi, 10, Turin 10124, Italy
| | - Franco Cauda
- GCS fMRI, Koelliker Hospital and University of Turin, Turin, Italy; FOCUS Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Via Verdi, 10, Turin 10124, Italy; Neuroscience Institute of Turin, Turin, Italy
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