Citation

Gan G, Sterzer P, Marxen M, Zimmermann US, Smolka MN. Neuropsychopharmacology 2015; 40(13): 2886-2896.

Affiliation

Technische Universität Dresden, Department of Psychiatry and Neuroimaging Center, Dresden, Germany.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1038/npp.2015.141

PMID

25971590

Abstract

Although alcohol consumption is linked to increased aggression, its neural correlates have not directly been studied in humans so far. Based on a comprehensive neurobiological model of alcohol-induced aggression, we hypothesized that alcohol-induced aggression would go along with increased amygdala and ventral striatum reactivity and impaired functioning of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) under alcohol. We measured neural and behavioral correlates of alcohol-induced aggression in a provoking versus non-provoking condition with a variant of the Taylor aggression paradigm (TAP) allowing to differentiate between reactive (provoked) and proactive (unprovoked) aggression. In a placebo-controlled cross-over design with moderate alcohol intoxication (~0.6 g/kg), thirty-five young healthy adults performed the TAP during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Analyses revealed that provoking versus non-provoking conditions and alcohol versus placebo increased aggression, and decreased brain responses in the anterior cingulate cortex/dorso-medial PFC (provoking

Language: en