Citation

Klaus J, Schutter DJLG. Neuroimage 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117582

PMID

33221449

Abstract

New insights into the functional neuro-anatomic correlates of emotions point toward the involvement of the cerebellum in anger and aggression. To identify cerebellar regions commonly activated in tasks examining the experience of anger and threat as well as exerting an aggressive response, two coordinate-based activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis reporting a total of fifty-seven cerebellar activation foci from 819 participants were performed. For anger processing (18 studies), results showed significant clusters in the bilateral posterior cerebellum, overlapping with results from previous meta-analyses on emotion processing, and implying functional connectivity to cognitive, limbic, and social canonic networks in the cerebral cortex. By contrast, active aggression expression (10 studies) was associated with significant clusters in more anterior regions of the cerebellum, overlapping with cerebellar somatosensory and motor regions and displaying functional connectivity with the somatomotor and default mode network. This study not only strengthens the notion that the cerebellum is involved in emotion processing, but also provides the first quantitative evidence for distinct cerebellar functional activation patterns related to anger and aggression.

Language: en

Keywords

Anger; Aggression; Meta-analysis; Activation likelihood estimation; Cerebellum; Functional magnetic resonance imaging