Neurobiological Responses towards Stimuli Depicting Aggressive Interactions in Delinquent Young Adults and Controls: No Relation to Reactive and Proactive Aggression.

Janna F Ter Harmsel,Reshmi Marhe,Josanne D M Van Dongen,Arne Popma,Josjan Zijlmans,Thimo M Van Der Pol

doi:10.3390/brainsci12020124

Abstract

Neurobiological measures underlying aggressive behavior have gained attention due to their potential to inform risk assessment and treatment interventions. Aberrations in responsivity of the autonomic nervous system and electrophysiological responses to arousal-inducing stimuli have been related to emotional dysregulation and aggressive behavior. However, studies have often been performed in community samples, using tasks that induce arousal but not specifically depict aggression. In this study, we examined differences in psychophysiological (i.e., heart rate, respiratory sinus arrhythmia, skin conductance level) and electrophysiological responses (i.e., P3, late positive potential, mu suppression) to aggressive versus neutral scenes in a sample of 118 delinquent young adults and 25 controls (all male, aged 18–27). With respect to group differences, we only found significant higher SCL reactivity during the task in the delinquent group compared to controls, but this was irrespective of condition (aggressive and neutral interactions). Within the delinquent group, we also examined associations between the neurobiological measures and reactive and proactive aggression. No significant associations were found. Therefore, although we found some indication of emotional dysregulation in these delinquent young adults, future studies should further elucidate the neurobiological mechanisms underlying emotional dysregulation in relation to different types of aggression.

Highlights

Aggressive and violent behavior in young adulthood is a major concern in forensic psychiatry and society, given the negative impact of concomitant social problems and delinquency on victims and perpetrators, as well as the high costs for health care and society [1,2]
Considering the electrophysiological results, we only found a significant effect of condition for the late positive potential (LPP); no significant differences between the groups were found on the P3, LPP and alpha ERD/ mu suppression
Differences in psychophysiological and electrophysiological correlates when viewing pictures depicting aggressive interactions were expected between delinquent young adults and controls, the current study only found an overall increased skin conductance level (SCL) for the delinquent group

Summary

Introduction

Aggressive and violent behavior in young adulthood is a major concern in forensic psychiatry and society, given the negative impact of concomitant social problems and delinquency on victims and perpetrators, as well as the high costs for health care and society [1,2]. Treatment-associated risk reductions in violent recidivism have been reported in several studies [3], the current overall efficacy of psychological and psychosocial interventions aimed at reducing aggressive behavior in forensic patients is found to be limited [4,5]. Studies focusing on neurobiological factors of aggression have increased (for an overview, see [6]), aiming to improve risk assessment and treatment of aggressive behavior [7]. One of the underlying mechanisms that is found to be disrupted in aggressive behavior is emotion regulation [8,9]. Studies on the neurobiology of emotion regulation in delinquents have mostly examined either structural or functional brain correlates or used psychophysiological or electrophysiological measures. Neurobiological measures are rarely jointly studied in relation to aggression [10]. A recent review of neuroimaging of psychopathic traits [11]

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