Sex differences in the neural correlates of aggression

Brain Structure & Function
Jonathan ReppleNils Kohn

Abstract

Although sex differences in aggression have been investigated for decades, little is known about the underlying neurobiology of this phenomenon. To address this gap, the present study implemented a social reactive aggression paradigm in 20 women and 22 men, employing a modified Taylor Aggression Task (mTAT) to provoke aggressive behavior in an fMRI setting. Subjects were provoked by money subtraction from a fake opponent and given the opportunity to retaliate likewise. In the absence of behavioral differences, male and female subjects showed differential brain activation patterns in response to provocation. Men had higher left amygdala activation during high provocation. This amygdala activation correlated with trait anger scores in men, but not in women. Also, men showed a positive association between orbitofrontal cortex, rectal gyrus and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) activity in the provocation contrast and their tendency to respond aggressively, whereas women displayed a negative association. As the rectal gyrus and OFC have been attributed a crucial role in automatic emotion regulation, this finding points toward the assumption that highly aggressive men use automatic emotion regulation to a greater extent in response to...Continue Reading

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Citations

Oct 31, 2019·Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·Vonetta M Dotson, Audrey Duarte
Jan 15, 2019·Experimental Neurobiology·SeungYeong ImChang-Hun Lee
Oct 30, 2019·Journal of Interpersonal Violence·Man AmanatVafa Rahimi-Movaghar
Nov 23, 2020·NeuroImage·Jana Klaus, Dennis J L G Schutter
Feb 23, 2021·Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience·Giuseppe DelvecchioPaolo Brambilla
Jul 17, 2021·Biological Psychiatry·Sofi da Cunha-Bang, Gitte Moos Knudsen

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