Neural correlates of intertemporal choice in aggressive behavior
Neural correlates of intertemporal choice in aggressive behavior
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DOI：
10.1002/ab.21838
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发表时间：
2019-09-01
影响因子：
2.9
通讯作者：
Craig, Adam W.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Chester, David S.;Bell, Sarah Beth;Craig, Adam W.
人们经常不得不在眼前的回报和更长远的目标之间做出选择。这种跨期判断通常是在金钱选择或药物使用的背景下进行调查的，而不是关于攻击行为的。我们将一种新的跨期攻击范式与功能神经成像相结合，研究了时间延迟在攻击行为中的作用及其神经关联。61名参与者(年龄18-22岁；37名女性)在选择对同性对手较小攻击性的即时行为与延迟较大攻击性行为的程度上表现出很大的差异。选择延迟但更严重的攻击性会因挑衅而增加，并与更强的自控力相关。在这种选择中，延迟攻击的偏好与腹内侧额前皮质(VMPFC)的活动增加有关，并且VMPFC和与运动冲动有关的大脑区域之间的功能连接减少。对立即攻击的偏好与VMPFC和额顶控制网络之间的功能连接性降低有关。倾向攻击性的参与者表现出VMPFC活性降低，这部分解释并抑制了他们对延迟攻击的偏好。因此，钝化的VMPFC活动可能是一种神经机制，在倾向攻击性的个体中促进对挑衅者的反应性攻击。这些发现证明了跨期框架在研究攻击性方面的实用性，并为攻击性和其他奖励行为之间相似的潜在神经生物学提供了进一步的证据。
People often have to make decisions between immediate rewards and more long-term goals. Such intertemporal judgments are often investigated in the context of monetary choice or drug use, yet not in regard to aggressive behavior. We combined a novel intertemporal aggression paradigm with functional neuroimaging to examine the role of temporal delay in aggressive behavior and the neural correlates thereof. Sixty-one participants (aged 18-22 years; 37 females) exhibited substantial variability in the extent to which they selected immediate acts of lesser aggression versus delayed acts of greater aggression against a same-sex opponent. Choosing delayed-yet-more-severe aggression was increased by provocation and associated with greater self-control. Preferences for delayed aggression were associated with greater activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) during such choices, and reduced functional connectivity between the VMPFC and brain regions implicated in motor impulsivity. Preferences for immediate aggression were associated with reduced functional connectivity between the VMPFC and the frontoparietal control network. Dispositionally aggressive participants exhibited reduced VMPFC activity, which partially explained and suppressed their preferences for delayed aggression. Blunted VMPFC activity may thus be a neural mechanism that promotes reactive aggression towards provocateurs among dispositionally aggressive individuals. These findings demonstrate the utility of an intertemporal framework for investigating aggression and provide further evidence for the similar underlying neurobiology between aggression and other rewarding behaviors.