Abstract
What causes individuals to hurt others? Since the famous case of Phineas Gage, lesions of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) have been reliably linked to physically aggressive behavior. However, it is unclear whether naturally-occurring deficits in VMPFC, among normal individuals, might have widespread consequences for aggression. Using voxel based morphometry, we regressed gray matter density from the brains of 138 normal female and male adults onto their dispositional levels of physical aggression, verbal aggression, and sex, simultaneously. Physical, but not verbal, aggression was associated with reduced gray matter volume in the VMPFC and to a lesser extent, frontopolar cortex. Participants with less gray matter density in this VMPFC cluster were much more likely to engage in real-world violence. These findings suggest that even granular deficits in normal individuals’ VMPFC gray matter can promote physical aggression.
Keywords
aggression, gray matter, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, voxel based morphometry morphometry
Date of this Version
12-1-2017
Recommended Citation
Chester, David S.; Lynam, Donald R.; Milich, Richard; and DeWall, C. Nathan, "Physical aggressiveness and gray matter deficits in ventromedial prefrontal cortex" (2017). Department of Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications. Paper 85.
https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/psychpubs/85
Comments
This is the author-accepted manuscript of Chester, DS; Lynam, DR; Milich, R; and DeWall, CN. (2017) "Physical aggressiveness and gray matter deficits in ventromedial prefrontal cortex." Cortex 97:17-22. Copyright Elsevier, it is made available here CC-BY-NC-ND, and the version of record can be found at DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2017.09.024.