Evolved changes to neural systems for reactive aggression in humans and other primates

各种类型的攻击是物种在其社会环境中适应性功能的一部分。与此同时，侵略行为可能对社会福祉构成威胁。该项目使用多个物种的脑成像数据集和相关行为数据来检查反应性攻击的神经生物学，并调查人类是否选择了反应性攻击。了解人类与其他动物相比，攻击性如何不同，对于了解我们自己物种的性质以及我们如何更广泛地融入动物王国至关重要。该项目支持STEM学生培训和辅导，并为本科研讨班课程创建公开可用的教材，重点是提高批判性评估科学理论的能力，并认识到理解科学概念的社会影响。 该项目使用独特的多物种神经成像数据集来测试当前关于攻击在人类进化中的作用的突出理论的预测，以检查支持物种内和物种间攻击行为变化的神经回路。研究人员使用现有的黑猩猩MRI和DTI扫描，并结合相同动物的行为测量。在人类中，他们收集了一种高度有效的反应性和主动性攻击的测量方法，以及与黑猩猩数据集直接可比的神经成像数据。在每一个物种中，他们研究了攻击性与（a）灰质形态，（B）白色物质微观结构和（c）白色物质连接之间的联系。黑猩猩、倭黑猩猩和人类大脑之间的直接比较被用来评估倭黑猩猩和/或人类是否表现出与反应性攻击的个体差异相关的神经回路的进化变化。此外，与在驯服的狐狸中观察到的大脑组织模式的比较提供了第二个独立的机制，以解决人类和倭黑猩猩的大脑是否经历了减少反应性侵略的选择。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

Various types of aggression are a part of how species function adaptively in their social environments. At the same time, aggression can pose a threat to societal well-being. This project uses brain imaging datasets and associated behavioral data for multiple species to examine the neurobiology of reactive aggression and investigate whether reactive aggression has been selected against in humans. Understanding how aggression may differ in humans as compared to other animals is fundamental to understanding the nature of our own species and how we fit into the animal kingdom more broadly. The project supports student training and mentoring in STEM and creates publicly available teaching materials for an undergraduate seminar course focused on improving the ability to critically evaluate scientific theories and recognize societal impacts of understanding of scientific concepts. The project tests predictions that follow from current prominent theories on the role of aggression in the evolution of humans and our closest ape relatives using unique multispecies neuroimaging datasets to examine neural circuitry supporting variation in aggressive behavior both within and across species. The investigators use existing MRI and DTI scans from chimpanzees combined with behavioral measurements in the same animals. In humans, they collect a highly validated measure of reactive and proactive aggression as well as neuroimaging data directly comparable to the chimpanzee dataset. Within each species, they examine links between aggression and (a) gray matter morphology, (b) white matter microstructure, and (c) white matter connectivity. Direct comparisons between chimpanzee, bonobo, and human brains are used to assess whether bonobos and/or humans show evolved change in neural circuits linked to individual variation in reactive aggression. Additionally, comparisons with patterns of brain organization observed in tame foxes provide a second, independent mechanism to address whether human and bonobo brains have undergone selection for reduced reactive aggression.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.