title: Neural and Behavioral Correlates of Alcohol-Induced Aggression Under Provocation.
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 vs 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), 35 young healthy adults performed the TAP during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Analyses revealed that provoking vs non-provoking conditions and alcohol vs placebo increased aggression and decreased brain responses in the anterior cingulate cortex/dorso-medial PFC (provoking<non-provoking) and the ventral striatum (alcohol<placebo) across our healthy sample. Interestingly, alcohol specifically increased proactive (unprovoked) but not reactive (provoked) aggression (alcohol × provocation interaction). However, investigation of inter-individual differences revealed (1) that pronounced alcohol-induced proactive aggression was linked to higher levels of aggression under placebo, and (2) that pronounced alcohol-induced reactive aggression was related to increased amygdala and ventral striatum reactivity under alcohol, providing evidence for their role in human alcohol-induced reactive aggression. Our findings suggest that in healthy young adults a liability for alcohol-induced aggression in a non-provoking context might depend on overall high levels of aggression, but on alcohol-induced increased striatal and amygdala reactivity when triggered by provocation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Neuroimaging Center, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.|Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Gabriela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Campus Charité Mitte, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sterzer
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Neuroimaging Center, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marxen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Neuroimaging Center, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Ulrich S
authors.initials: US
authors.lastname: Zimmermann
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Neuroimaging Center, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Smolka
mesh_terms: D000374:Aggression / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants / Q000008:administration & dosage; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011930:Reaction Time; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D000431:Ethanol