Full access
Clinical & Research News
Published Online: 17 January 2003

Different Brain Regions Activated In Impulsive Aggression

Publication: Psychiatric News
Volume 38, Number 2
https://doi.org/10.1176/pn.38.2.0029a
Patients with personality disorder often react impulsively and aggressively to interpersonal emotional cues, such as conflict or perceived disrespect, according to Antonia New, M.D., an assistant professor of psychiatry at Mount Sinai School of Medicine/Bronx VA Medical Center.
A brain imaging study by New and a team of researchers at the two institutions suggests that the trait of impulsive aggression may be due to impaired brain regions that normally inhibit aggressive responses to external stimuli.
New and psychiatric researcher and colleague Larry Siever, M.D., presented the results separately at a conference last month in Bethesda, Md., on borderline personality disorder organized by the Treatment Advancements and Research Association for Personality Disorder. The study was published in the July 2002 Archives of General Psychiatry.
“Our brain imaging study shows that personality disordered patients with impulsive aggression did not activate normal inhibitory regions of the brain in response to a serotonergic stimulus. This may be one of the reasons why patients experience such great difficulty in controlling their tempers,” said New in an interview with Psychiatric News.
The researchers used positron emission tomography (PET) to examine the response of brain regions to a serotonergic probe (meta-chlorophenylpiperazine, or m-CPP) in eight normal controls and 13 patients with impulsive aggression in personality disorder.
The results showed significant differences in the brain regions activated by m-CPP between patients and normal controls. There was a significantly greater response in the anterior cingulate gyrus and the medial orbital frontal cortex in normal controls. Patients, by contrast, experienced a significantly greater response in the posterior cingulate gyrus and the lateral orbital frontal cortex, said New.
“Understanding the mechanism underlying this disinhibited aggression provides us an opportunity to detect the effects of treatment on the brain mechanism involved in impulsive aggression,” said New.
“Our next step is to study which subcortical brain regions are activated in response to a provocation whether by making patients angry or giving them a serotonergic agent. Our hypothesis is that the hypothalamus may be involved because animal studies have shown that electrical stimulation of this limbic region leads to aggressive behavior.” ▪

Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Go to Psychiatric News
Psychiatric News
Volume 38 • Number 2 • January 17, 2003
Pages: 29 - 48

History

Published online: 17 January 2003
Published in print: January 17, 2003

Notes

A brain imaging study shows that regions responsible for inhibiting aggression are not activated by a serotonergic stimulus in personality-disordered patients with impulsive aggression.

Authors

Metrics & Citations

Metrics

Citations

Export Citations

If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.

For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu.

Format
Citation style
Style
Copy to clipboard
Tips for downloading citations

There are no citations for this item

View Options

View options

Get Access

Login options

Already a subscriber? Access your subscription through your login credentials or your institution for full access to this article.

Personal login Institutional Login Open Athens login

Not a subscriber?

Subscribe Now / Learn More

PsychiatryOnline subscription options offer access to the DSM-5-TR® library, books, journals, CME, and patient resources. This all-in-one virtual library provides psychiatrists and mental health professionals with key resources for diagnosis, treatment, research, and professional development.

Need more help? PsychiatryOnline Customer Service may be reached by emailing [email protected] or by calling 800-368-5777 (in the U.S.) or 703-907-7322 (outside the U.S.).

Media

Figures

Other

Tables

Share

Share

Share article link

Share

×

As described within the American Psychiatric Association (APA)'s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, this website utilizes cookies, including for the purpose of offering an optimal online experience and services tailored to your preferences. Please read the entire Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. By closing this message, browsing this website, continuing the navigation, or otherwise continuing to use the APA's websites, you confirm that you understand and accept the terms of the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, including the utilization of cookies.