A new study highlights how
portions of brain that temper
aggression get veiled when
people gulp alcohol
By InnoHEALTH Editorial Team
A
“Although there was an overall
dampening effect of alcohol on the
prefrontal cortex, even at a low dose
of alcohol, we observed a significant
positive
relationship
between
The results are largely consistent with
a growing body of research about the
neural basis of aggression, and how
it is triggered by changes in the way
that the prefrontal cortex, the limbic
system and reward-related regions
of the brain function. The results of
the current study are also consistent
with several psychological theories of
alcohol-related aggression.
“We encourage future, larger-
scale investigations into the neural
underpinnings of alcohol-related
aggression with stronger doses and
clinical samples. Doing so could
eventually
substantially
reduce
alcohol-related harm” adds Prof.
Denson.
Volume 3 | Issue 3 | July-September 2018
55
According to most theories, alcohol-
related aggression is caused by changes
in the prefrontal cortex. However, there
is a lack of substantial neuroimaging
evidence to substantiate these ideas.
In this study, Prof. Denson and his team
recruited fifty healthy young men. The
participants were either given two
drinks containing vodka, or placebo
drinks without any alcohol. While lying
in an MRI scanner, the participants
then had to compete in a task which
has regularly been used over the past
50 years to observe levels of aggression
The functional magnetic resonance
imaging allowed the researchers
to see which areas of the brain
were triggered when the task was
performed. They could also compare
the difference in scans between
participants who had consumed
alcohol and those who hadn’t. Being
provoked was found to have no
influence on participants’ neural
responses.