Program & Abstract Book - EPFL Latsis Symposium 2009

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EPFL Latsis Symposium 2009: Understanding Violence 56 P-2 February 11-13 2009 in D i v i D u a l D i f f e r e n c e s in a g g r e s s i o n m o D u l a t e e a r l y f r o n t a l r e s p o n s e t o a g g r e s s i v e f a c i a l D i s p l a y s . Bediou Benoit, 1 3 ; Eimer, Martin 2 ; Calder, Andrew J. 1 1 Medical Research Council - Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, 15 Chaucer road, CB2 7EF Cambridge, UK.; 2 School of Psychology, Birkbeck College, University of London, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX, UK; 3 Swiss Center for Affective Sciences CISA – University of Geneva, Rue des Battoirs, 7, CH 1205 Geneva, SWIT- ZERLAND Converging evidence from human and animal research suggest that aggressive behaviour arises from a dysfunction in the neural circuitry of emotion-regulation, especially in the connection between the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala. Both clinically aggressive individuals and healthy volunteers with elevated risk for aggression show increased amygdala and decreased prefrontal responses to facial signals of aggression. Individual differences in reward-drive have been associated with increased attention toward facial signals of aggression, heightened experience of anger and vulnerability to display aggressive behaviour. Here, we investigated the temporal dynamics of the interaction between an aggression-related personality trait (‘reward-drive’—the drive to gain reward, Carver &White, 1994) and the neural response to angry faces. We recorded high-density (64-electrodes) Event Related brain Potentials (ERPs) in subjects scoring high (N=12) and low (N=12) on the rewarddrive scale while they viewed angry, sad and neutral faces. Replicating previous findings, ERP results showed an enhanced frontal and frontocentral positivity in response to angry and sad faces compared with neutral faces from 130 to 200ms post stimulus. Crucially, reward-drive selectively modulated the midline frontocentral response to aggressive facial displays within 200-300ms after stimulus onset—compared to low rewarddrive subjects, individuals scoring high on the reward-drive scale showed a reduced midline frontocentral positivity for angry faces relative to neutral and sad expressions. Results are consistent with recent fMRI studies showing reduced ventromedial prefrontal response to angry faces relative to neutral and sad expressions in subjects with heightened risk for aggression (see Calder et al 2008). Moreover, the temporal properties of this modulation are consistent with the idea of a reduced functional coupling from the vmPFC to the amygdala (but not vice versa) in subjects scoring high on reward-drive (see Passamonti et al 2008).
EPFL Latsis Symposium 2009: Understanding Violence P-3 Poster Abstracts Do st r e s s a n D ag g r e s s i o n in f l u e n c e o u r pe r c e p t i o n o f ot h e r s ? Bertsch, Katja 1 ; Khan, Robina 1 ; Kruk, Menno 2 ; Naumann, Ewald 1 1 Department of Psychology, University of Trier, Germany; 2 Department of Medical Pharmacology, Leiden University, Netherlands For humans emotional facial expressions are the most immediate and salient cues to the state of mind of other individuals. The results of animal and clinical studies suggest a strong relationship between stress, the processing of conflict-relevant signals, and aggressive behavior. In a recent EEG experiment, we were able to confirm this and could show that experimentally provoked aggression has an impact on the processing of emotional facial expressions even in healthy individuals. In a second EEG study, we investigated the influence of stress and aggression on the processing of emotional facial expressions. Therefore, we administered either 20 mg of hydrocortisone (stress group) or a placebo (placebo group) to healthy participants and provoked half of them with the Taylor Aggression Paradigm. Thereafter, all participants performed an emotional Stroop task with emotional facial expressions (happy, neutral, angry, fearful). The preliminary results indicate an influence of stress (hydrocortisone), aggressive behavior, as well as the interaction of stress and aggression on the processing of the emotional faces. These results are in line with the findings from animal and clinical studies and show a strong relationship between stress, aggression, and the processing of conflict-relevant signals. This is a further indication for a vicious circle between stress, aggression, and information processing which might explain the elicitation and escalation of aggressive behavior. 57
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