A multivariate approach to aggression and the orbital frontal cortex in psychiatric patients

Gansler, David A.; McLaughlin, Nicole C.R.; Iguchi, Lisa; Jerram, Matthew; Moore, Dana W.; Bhadelia, Rafeeque; Fulwiler, Carl

doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2008.03.007

« Previous Next »Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging
Volume 171, Issue 3 , Pages 145-154, 31 March 2009

A multivariate approach to aggression and the orbital frontal cortex in psychiatric patients

David A. Gansler
- Department of Psychology, Suffolk University, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
- Corresponding author. Suffolk University, Department of Psychology, 41 Temple Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA. Tel.: +1 617 305 6397; fax: +1 617 367 2924.
Nicole C.R. McLaughlin
- Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
Lisa Iguchi
- Department of Psychology, Suffolk University, Boston, MA, USA
Matthew Jerram
- Department of Psychology, Suffolk University, Boston, MA, USA
Dana W. Moore
- Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York City, NY, USA
Rafeeque Bhadelia
- Department of Radiology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
Carl Fulwiler
- Lemuel Shattuck Hospital, Jamaica Plain, MA, USA
- University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA

Received 1 January 2008; received in revised form 19 March 2008; accepted 20 March 2008.

Abstract

The association between orbital frontal cortex (OFC) volume and aggression was investigated in an at-risk psychiatric population. Forty-one psychiatric patients were referred for magnetic resonance imaging and a standardized psychometric assessment of aggression (Lifetime History of Aggression-Revised). Nineteen matched controls had lower levels of aggression and greater OFC volume, establishing the appropriateness of the psychiatric group for studying aggression pathophysiology. Consistent with study hypotheses, left OFC gray matter volume predicted 34% of the variance in self-reported aggression ratings. When impulsivity was not controlled for, left OFC gray matter only accounted for 26% of aggression variance, suggesting a complex relationship between impulsivity and OFC–aggression pathophysiology. Contrary to study hypotheses, right OFC gray matter volume did not predict degree of aggressive behavior. Current models do not account for lateralization, yet this may be quite important. Greater consideration should be given to laterality in OFC regulation of social/emotional behavior. Regulatory focus theory, positing two motivational systems, promotion and prevention, lateralized to the left and right hemispheres, respectively, may provide an explanatory framework for these results. Dysregulation of the left hemisphere ‘promotion’ motivational system may help to explain the aggressive behavior present in psychiatric populations.

Keywords: Community violence, Neuropsychiatry, Impulsivity