University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Aggress Behav. 2012 Nov-Dec;38(6):469-80. doi: 10.1002/ab.21449. Epub 2012 Sep 11.
Dysfunctional anger, though not a primary clinical diagnosis per se, does present clinically as a pathological mood for which treatment is sought. Few studies have probed the neurocortical correlates of dysfunctional anger or assessed if cognitive processes, such as attention, are altered in dysfunctional anger. Though dysfunctional and high trait anger appears to be associated with biased processing of anger-eliciting information, few studies have examined if dysfunctional anger modulates attention more generally. This is a notable gap as volitional attention control is associated with effective emotive regulation, which is impaired in dysfunctional anger and in associated acts of aggression. In this pilot study, we examined performance and electroencephalographic (EEG) profiles during a 12-min continuous performance task (CPT) of sustained attention in 15 adults with dysfunctional anger (Anger group) and 14 controls (control group). The Anger group had fewer hits at the end of the CPT, which correlated with decreased frontocortical activation, suggesting decreased engagement of frontal circuits when attention is taxed. The Anger group had more false alarms overall indicating impaired response inhibition. Increased right cortical activation during the initial portion of CPT existed in the Anger group, perhaps reflecting greater engagement of frontal circuits (i.e. effort) during initial stages of the task compared to controls. Finally, increased overall beta₁ power, suggesting increased cortical activation, was noted in the Anger group. These EEG patterns suggest a hypervigilant state in dysfunctional anger, which may interfere with effective attention control and decrease inhibition. Such impairments likely extend beyond the laboratory setting, and may associate with aggressive acts in real life.
功能失调性愤怒本身并不是一个主要的临床诊断，但它确实表现为一种病理性的情绪，需要治疗。很少有研究探究过功能失调性愤怒的神经皮质相关性，也没有评估过认知过程（如注意力）是否在功能失调性愤怒中发生改变。尽管功能失调性愤怒和高特质愤怒似乎与愤怒诱发信息的偏向处理有关，但很少有研究检查过功能失调性愤怒是否更普遍地调节注意力。这是一个显著的差距，因为意志性注意力控制与有效的情感调节有关，而功能失调性愤怒和相关的攻击行为会损害这种调节。在这项初步研究中，我们在 15 名功能失调性愤怒（愤怒组）和 14 名对照组（对照组）的 12 分钟持续注意力连续表现任务（CPT）中检查了表现和脑电图（EEG）特征。愤怒组在 CPT 结束时的命中次数较少，这与额叶皮质激活减少有关，表明当注意力受到压力时，额叶回路的参与减少。愤怒组的总体假警报更多，表明反应抑制受损。愤怒组在 CPT 的初始部分存在更多的右侧皮质激活，这可能反映出与对照组相比，在任务的初始阶段，前额回路（即努力）的参与更多。最后，愤怒组的整体β₁功率增加，表明皮质激活增加。这些脑电图模式表明功能失调性愤怒存在过度警惕状态，这可能会干扰有效的注意力控制并降低抑制。这种损伤可能不仅限于实验室环境，而且可能与现实生活中的攻击行为有关。
