Proximity Alert! Distance Related Cuneus Activation in Military Veterans with Anger and Aggression Problems

Abstract Problems involving anger and aggression are common after military deployment, and may involve abnormal responses to threat. This study therefore investigated effects on neural activation related to threat and escapability among veterans with deployment experience. Twenty-seven male veterans...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychiatry research. Neuroimaging 2017-08, Vol.266, p.114-122
Main Authors: Heesink, Lieke, Gladwin, Thomas, Terburg, David, van Honk, Jack, Kleber, Rolf, Geuze, Elbert
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aggression
Aggression - physiology
Anger
Anger - physiology
Arousal - physiology
Distance Perception - physiology
fMRI
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Military veterans
Occipital Lobe - diagnostic imaging
Occipital Lobe - physiopathology
Proximity
Psychiatry
Radiology
Threat
Veterans
Virtual Predator
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Summary:Abstract Problems involving anger and aggression are common after military deployment, and may involve abnormal responses to threat. This study therefore investigated effects on neural activation related to threat and escapability among veterans with deployment experience. Twenty-seven male veterans with anger and aggression problems (Anger group) and 30 Control veterans performed a virtual predator-task during fMRI measurement. In this task, threat and proximity were manipulated. The distance of cues determined their possibility for escape. Cues signaled impending attack by zooming in towards the participant. If Threat cues, but not Safe cues, reached the participants without being halted by a button press, an aversive noise (105 dB scream) was presented. In both the Threat and the Safe condition, closer proximity of the virtual predator resulted in stronger activation in the cuneus in the Anger versus Control group. The results suggest that anger and aggression problems are related to a generalized sensitivity to proximity rather than preparatory processes related to task-contingent aversive stimuli. Anger and aggression problems in natural, dynamically changing environments may be related to an overall heightened vigilance, which is non-adaptively driven by proximity.
ISSN:0925-4927
1872-7506
DOI:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2017.06.012