Abstract
BackgroundDue to its severe negative consequences, human violence has been targeted by a vast number of studies. Yet, neurobiological mechanisms underlying violence are still widely unclear and it seems necessary to aim for high ecological validity to learn about mechanisms contributing to violence in real life.MethodsThe present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study investigated the neurofunction of individuals with a history of violent offenses compared with that of controls using a laboratory paradigm requesting individuals to empathically engage in videos depicting provocative aggressive and positive social interactions from a first‐person perspective.ResultsThe contrast of aggressive vs. positive scenarios revealed midbrain activation patterns associated with caudal periaqueductal gray (PAG) in violent offenders; In controls, the rostral PAG was involved. Additionally, only in controls, this contrast revealed an involvement of the amygdaloidal complex. Moreover, in violent offenders the contrast of positive vs. aggressive situations revealed an involvement of areas in the insula, post‐central gyrus and anterior cingulate cortex.ConclusionsOur results support findings on the differential role of PAG subdivisions in response to threat and point to altered processing of positive social interactions in violent offenders. They further support the notion that changes in PAG recruitment might contribute to violent individuals “taking action” instead of freezing in case of threatening situations.
Highlights
1.1 THE “VIOLENCE NETWORK(S)”Human violence has severe negative consequences for micro, mesoand macrosocial systems
Groups differed in A-scenarios such as control participants (CON) showed more negative ratings compared to violent individuals (VIOL) participants (p < .01, t = 2.2)
Two groups of participants, that is, individuals, who had committed violent offenses, and control individuals, who had not, were examined using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while watching stimuli selected from a stimulus video inventory developed by Fehr et al (2014) including quasirealistic scenarios showing neutral, positive and reactive aggressive social interactions from a first-person perspective (Fehr, 2012; Fehr et al, 2014)
Summary
1.1 THE “VIOLENCE NETWORK(S)”Human violence has severe negative consequences for micro-, mesoand macrosocial systems. There is increasing consensus about a network of brain regions functionally contributing to human violence (e.g., Fanning et al, 2017; Raine, 2019; Rosell & Siever, 2015). Conclusions: Our results support findings on the differential role of PAG subdivisions in response to threat and point to altered processing of positive social interactions in violent offenders. They further support the notion that changes in PAG recruitment might contribute to violent individuals “taking action” instead of freezing in case of threatening situations
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