Personality traits predict brain activation and connectivity when witnessing a violent conflict

Scientific Reports
Jan Van den StockBeatrice de Gelder

Abstract

As observers we excel in decoding the emotional signals telling us that a social interaction is turning violent. The neural substrate and its modulation by personality traits remain ill understood. We performed an fMRI experiment in which participants watched videos displaying a violent conflict between two people. Observers' attention was directed to either the aggressor or the victim. Focusing on the aggressor (vs. focusing on the victim) activated the superior temporal sulcus (STS), extra-striate body area (EBA), occipital poles and centro-medial amygdala (CMA). Stronger instantaneous connectivity occurred between these and the EBA, insula, and the red nucleus. When focusing on the victim, basolateral amygdala (BLA) activation was related to trait empathy and showed increased connectivity with the insula and red nucleus. STS activation was associated with trait aggression and increased connectivity with the hypothalamus. The findings reveal that focusing on the aggressor of a violent conflict triggers more activation in categorical (EBA) and emotion (CMA, STS) areas. This is associated with increased instantaneous connectivity among emotion areas (CMA-insula) and between categorical and emotion (EBA-STS) areas. When the focu...Continue Reading

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Citations

May 6, 2016·Frontiers in Psychology·Fábio P Pádua JúniorEduardo B Andrade
Jul 5, 2016·Frontiers in Psychology·Tanaz MolapourAndreas Olsson
Jul 9, 2016·Cortex; a Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System and Behavior·François-Laurent De WinterMathieu Vandenbulcke
Sep 29, 2019·Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience·Yuta KatsumiSanda Dolcos
Nov 3, 2017·European Psychiatry : the Journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists·L HeesinkE Geuze
Jan 29, 2019·Neurosurgery·Flavia Venetucci GouveiaRaquel C R Martinez
Jan 23, 2018·Frontiers in Human Neuroscience·Yuta Katsumi, Sanda Dolcos
Sep 1, 2018·Current Directions in Psychological Science·Ruud Hortensius, Beatrice de Gelder

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BrainVoyager QX
Ulead VideoStudio
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