The Angry Brain: Neural Correlates of Anger, Angry Rumination, and Aggressive Personality

2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 734-744 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas F. Denson ◽  
William C. Pedersen ◽  
Jaclyn Ronquillo ◽  
Anirvan S. Nandy
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Aggressive Behavior ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Neural Pathways ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Neural Processes ◽  
Angry Rumination ◽  
Aggressive Personality

Very little is known about the neural circuitry guiding anger, angry rumination, and aggressive personality. In the present fMRI experiment, participants were insulted and induced to ruminate. Activity in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex was positively related to self-reported feelings of anger and individual differences in general aggression. Activity in the medial prefrontal cortex was related to self-reported rumination and individual differences in displaced aggression. Increased activation in the hippocampus, insula, and cingulate cortex following the provocation predicted subsequent self-reported rumination. These findings increase our understanding of the neural processes associated with the risk for aggressive behavior by specifying neural regions that mediate the subjective experience of anger and angry rumination as well as the neural pathways linked to different types of aggressive behavior.

scholarly journals Chronic pain as a brain imbalance between pain input and pain suppression

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sven Vanneste ◽  
Dirk De Ridder
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Pain ◽  
Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Somatosensory Cortex ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Effective Connectivity ◽  
Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Brain Network ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Density Ratios

Abstract Chronic pain is pain that persists beyond the expected period of healing. The subjective experience of chronic pain results from pathological brain network interactions, rather than from persisting physiological sensory input of nociceptors. We hypothesize that pain is an imbalance between pain evoking dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and somatosensory cortex and pain suppression (i.e. pregenual anterior cingulate cortex). This imbalance can be measured objectively by current density ratios between pain input and pain inhibition. A balance between areas involved in pain input and pain suppression requires communication, which can be objectively identified by connectivity measures, both functional and effective connectivity. In patients with chronic neuropathic pain, electroencephalography is performed with source localization demonstrating that pain is reflected by an abnormal ratio between the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, somatosensory cortex and pregenual anterior cingulate cortex. Functional connectivity demonstrates decreased communication between these areas, and effective connectivity puts the culprit at the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, suggesting that the problem is related to abnormal behavioral relevance attached to the pain. In conclusion, chronic pain can be considered as an imbalance between pain input and pain suppression.

scholarly journals Ramping ensemble activity in dorsal anterior cingulate neurons during persistent commitment to a decision

2015 ◽  
Vol 114 (4) ◽  
pp. 2439-2449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tommy C. Blanchard ◽  
Caleb E. Strait ◽  
Benjamin Y. Hayden
Keyword(s):  
Firing Rate ◽  
Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Reward Processing ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Neural Processes ◽  
Reward Amount ◽  
Ensemble Activity

We frequently need to commit to a choice to achieve our goals; however, the neural processes that keep us motivated in pursuit of delayed goals remain obscure. We examined ensemble responses of neurons in macaque dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), an area previously implicated in self-control and persistence, in a task that requires commitment to a choice to obtain a reward. After reward receipt, dACC neurons signaled reward amount with characteristic ensemble firing rate patterns; during the delay in anticipation of the reward, ensemble activity smoothly and gradually came to resemble the postreward pattern. On the subset of risky trials, in which a reward was anticipated with 50% certainty, ramping ensemble activity evolved to the pattern associated with the anticipated reward (and not with the anticipated loss) and then, on loss trials, took on an inverted form anticorrelated with the form associated with a win. These findings enrich our knowledge of reward processing in dACC and may have broader implications for our understanding of persistence and self-control.

scholarly journals Dorsal anterior cingulate cortex intrinsic functional connectivity linked to electrocortical measures of error-monitoring

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hayley Gilbertson ◽  
Lin Fang ◽  
Jeremy A. Andrzejewski ◽  
Joshua M. Carlson
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Flanker Task ◽  
Monitoring Network ◽  
Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Functional Coupling ◽  
Error Monitoring ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex

AbstractThe error-related negativity (ERN) is a response-locked event-related potential, occurring approximately 50 ms following an erroneous response at frontocentral electrode sites. Source localization and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) research indicate that the ERN is likely generated by activity in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC). The dACC is thought to be a part of a broader network of brain regions that collectively comprise an error-monitoring network. However, little is known about how intrinsic connectivity within the dACC-based error-monitoring network contributes to variability in ERN amplitude. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between dACC functional connectivity and ERN amplitude. In a sample of 53 highly trait-anxious individuals, the ERN was elicited in a flanker task and functional connectivity was assessed in a 10-minute resting-state fMRI scan. Results suggest that the strength of dACC seeded functional connectivity with the supplementary motor area is correlated with the ΔERN (i.e., incorrect – correct responses) amplitude such that greater ΔERN amplitude was accompanied by greater functional coupling between these regions. In addition to the dACC, exploratory analyses found that functional connectivity in the caudate, cerebellum, and a number of regions in the error-monitoring network were linked to variability in ΔERN amplitude. In sum, ERN amplitude appears to be related to the strength of functional connectivity between error-monitoring and motor control regions of the brain.

scholarly journals Altered resting-state dorsal anterior cingulate cortex functional connectivity in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder

2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Juan Chen ◽  
Li Zhang ◽  
Jun Ke ◽  
Rongfeng Qi ◽  
Qiang Xu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Post Traumatic

Objective: The brain functional alterations at regional and network levels in post-traumatic stress disorder patients are still unclear. This study explored brain functional alterations at regional and network levels in post-traumatic stress disorder patients with resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and evaluated the relationship between brain function and clinical indices in post-traumatic stress disorder. Methods: Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation and seed-based functional connectivity analyses were conducted among typhoon survivors with ( n = 27) and without post-traumatic stress disorder ( n = 33) and healthy controls ( n = 30) to assess the spontaneous brain activity and network-level brain function. Pearson correlation analyses were performed to examine the association of brain function with clinical symptom and social support. Results: Both the post-traumatic stress disorder group and the trauma-exposed control group showed decreased amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex relative to the healthy control group. The post-traumatic stress disorder group showed increased dorsal anterior cingulate cortex functional connectivity with the right paracentral lobule and bilateral precentral gyrus/postcentral gyrus relative to both control groups. Both traumatized groups exhibited decreased dorsal anterior cingulate cortex functional connectivity with the right hippocampus and left cerebellum relative to the healthy control group. More decreased dorsal anterior cingulate cortex functional connectivity with the right hippocampus was found in the post-traumatic stress disorder group. The Checklist-Civilian Version score positively correlated with functional connectivity between the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and the right paracentral lobule as well as between the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and the right precentral gyrus/postcentral gyrus. The social support was associated with functional connectivity between the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and the bilateral precentral gyrus/postcentral gyrus as well as the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and the left middle frontal gyrus. Conclusion: Trauma exposure may result in aberrant local and network-level functional connectivity in individuals with or without post-traumatic stress disorder. Altered amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex may be a predisposing risk factor for post-traumatic stress disorder development following trauma exposure. More prominent decreased dorsal anterior cingulate cortex functional connectivity with the right hippocampus might be specific in the post-traumatic stress disorder group. Improvement of social support might possibly be significant for post-traumatic stress disorder patients.

scholarly journals Pedophilic sex offenders are characterised by reduced GABA concentration in dorsal anterior cingulate cortex

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 335-341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inka Ristow ◽  
Meng Li ◽  
Lejla Colic ◽  
Vanessa Marr ◽  
Carina Födisch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Gaba Concentration ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex

scholarly journals Revisiting potential associations between brain morphology, fear acquisition and extinction through new data and a literature review

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mana R. Ehlers ◽  
Janne Nold ◽  
Manuel Kuhn ◽  
Maren Klingelhöfer-Jens ◽  
Tina B. Lonsdorf
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Fear Conditioning ◽  
Cortical Thickness ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Brain Morphology ◽  
Small Samples ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Defensive Responding ◽  
Brain Behavior ◽  
Subcortical Volume

AbstractInter-individual differences in defensive responding are widely established but their morphological correlates in humans have not been investigated exhaustively. Previous studies reported associations with cortical thickness of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, insula and medial orbitofrontal cortex as well as amygdala volume in fear conditioning studies. However, these associations are partly inconsistent and often derived from small samples. The current study aimed to replicate previously reported associations between physiological and subjective measures of fear acquisition and extinction and brain morphology. Structural magnetic resonance imaging was performed on 107 healthy adults who completed a differential cued fear conditioning paradigm with 24 h delayed extinction while skin conductance response (SCR) and fear ratings were recorded. Cortical thickness and subcortical volume were obtained using the software Freesurfer. Results obtained by traditional null hypothesis significance testing and Bayesians statistics do not support structural brain-behavior relationships: Neither differential SCR nor fear ratings during fear acquisition or extinction training could be predicted by cortical thickness or subcortical volume in regions previously reported. In summary, the current pre-registered study does not corroborate associations between brain morphology and inter-individual differences in defensive responding but differences in experimental design and analyses approaches compared to previous work should be acknowledged.

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