Journal
SOCIAL COGNITIVE AND AFFECTIVE NEUROSCIENCE
Volume 6, Issue 1, Pages 2-11Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsp036
Keywords
ventromedial prefrontal cortex; frontopolar cortex; fMRI; cortical thickness; neurodevelopment; trait anger
Categories
Funding
- National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
- NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS AND STROKE [ZIANS002792] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
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Aggressive behavior is common during adolescence. Although aggression-related functional changes in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and frontopolar cortex (FPC) have been reported in adults, the neural correlates of aggressive behavior in adolescents, particularly in the context of structural neurodevelopment, are obscure. We used functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure the blood oxygenation level-depended signal and cortical thickness. In a block-designed experiment, 14-17-year old adolescents imagined aggressive and non-aggressive interactions with a peer. We show reduced vmPFC activation associated with imagined aggressive behavior as well as enhanced aggression-related activation and cortical thinning in the FPC with increasing age. Changes in FPC activation were also associated with judgments of the severity of aggressive acts. Reduced vmPFC activation was associated with greater aggression indicating its normal function is to exert inhibitory control over aggressive impulses. Concurrent FPC activation likely reflects foresight of harmful consequences that result from aggressive acts. The correlation of age-dependent activation changes and cortical thinning demonstrates ongoing maturation of the FPC during adolescence towards a refinement of social and cognitive information processing that can potentially facilitate mature social behavior in aggressive contexts.
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