Department of Neurology, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562, Lübeck, Germany.
Institute of Psychology II, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
Brain Imaging Behav. 2019 Apr;13(2):564-576. doi: 10.1007/s11682-018-9884-2.
The steroid hormone testosterone (T) has been suggested to influence reactive aggression upon its action on the basolateral amygdala (BLA), a key brain region for threat detection. However, it is unclear whether T modulates resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) of the BLA, and whether this predicts subsequent aggressive behavior. Aggressive interactions themselves, which often induce changes in T concentrations, could further alter BLA rsFC, but this too remains untested. Here we investigated the effect of endogenous T on rsFC of the BLA at baseline as well as after an aggressive encounter, and whether this was related to behavioral aggression in healthy young women (n = 39). Pre-scan T was negatively correlated with basal rsFC between BLA and left superior temporal gyrus (STG; p < .001, p < .05 Family-Wise Error [FWE] cluster-level corrected), which in turn was associated with increased aggression (r = .37, p = .020). BLA-STG coupling at rest might thus underlie hostile readiness in low-T women. In addition, connectivity between the BLA and the right superior parietal lobule (SPL), a brain region involved in higher-order perceptual processes, was reduced in aggressive participants (p < .001, p < .05 FWE cluster-level corrected). On the other hand, post-task increases in rsFC between BLA and medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) were linked to reduced aggression (r = -.36, p = .023), consistent with the established notion that the mOFC regulates amygdala activity in order to curb aggressive impulses. Finally, competition-induced changes in T were associated with increased coupling between the BLA and the right lateral OFC (p < .001, p < .05 FWE cluster-level corrected), but this effect was unrelated to aggression. We thus identified connectivity patterns that prospectively predict aggression in women, and showed how aggressive interactions in turn impact these neural systems.
类固醇激素睾酮（T）被认为通过其对基底外侧杏仁核（BLA）的作用影响反应性攻击，BLA 是大脑中用于检测威胁的关键区域。然而，目前尚不清楚 T 是否调节 BLA 的静息状态功能连接（rsFC），以及这种调节是否预测随后的攻击行为。攻击性互动本身通常会导致 T 浓度的变化，这可能进一步改变 BLA 的 rsFC，但这也尚未得到验证。在这里，我们研究了内源性 T 对健康年轻女性（n=39）基线和攻击性遭遇后 BLA 的 rsFC 的影响，以及这是否与行为攻击有关。预扫描 T 与 BLA 和左侧颞上回（STG）之间的基础 rsFC 呈负相关（p<.001，p<.05 家族性错误[FWE]聚类水平校正），而这反过来又与攻击性增加有关（r=0.37，p=0.020）。因此，低 T 女性的 BLA-STG 连接可能是敌意准备的基础。此外，BLA 与右侧顶上小叶（SPL）之间的连接减少，SPL 是一个参与高级感知过程的脑区，在攻击性参与者中减少（p<.001，p<.05 FWE 聚类水平校正）。另一方面，BLA 和内侧眶额皮层（mOFC）之间的 rsFC 在任务后的增加与攻击性降低有关（r=-.36，p=0.023），这与公认的观点一致，即 mOFC 调节杏仁核活动以抑制攻击冲动。最后，竞争引起的 T 变化与 BLA 与右侧外侧眶额皮层（OFC）之间的耦合增加有关（p<.001，p<.05 FWE 聚类水平校正），但这种效应与攻击性无关。因此，我们确定了能够预测女性攻击性的连接模式，并表明攻击性互动如何反过来影响这些神经系统。
