Gramegna Chiara, Barbieri Barbara, Bolognini Nadia
PhD Program in Neuroscience, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza dell'Ateneo Nuovo 1, Milan, 20126, Italy.
Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.
Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2025 Aug 21. doi: 10.1007/s00406-025-02087-9.
Increasing evidence suggests that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) plays a crucial role in aggression and that it may be possible to modulate this behavior using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). Nevertheless, no previous study has specifically examined the differential effects of bilateral tDCS on reactive and proactive aggression, making the present research the first to explore this distinction using neuromodulation. With this aim, we examined the effect of bi-hemispheric prefrontal tDCS in 30 healthy adults using a double-blind, sham-controlled design. All participants received three types of stimulation over the dlPFC: right anodal/left cathodal, right cathodal/left anodal, and sham tDCS. During the stimulation, participants underwent a modified version of the Taylor Aggression Paradigm, which included two different tasks: one for measuring proactive aggression (i.e., pTAP) and one for reactive aggression (i.e., rTAP). They were also given self-report questionnaires measuring individual levels of aggression, impulsivity, and empathy to test whether these constructs were associated with aggressive responses at the pTAP and rTAP. Results showed increased proactive aggression in males with both active montages, while reactive aggression increased only with right cathodal/left anodal tDCS. Females exhibited increased proactive aggression during right cathodal/left anodal tDCS, but decreased reactive aggression during right anodal/left cathodal stimulation. These findings suggest sex-dependent modulation of aggression via dlPFC stimulation. The relevance of these results extends beyond healthy individuals, as dlPFC dysfunction is a common feature in several psychiatric disorders associated with aggressive behavior. Understanding how tDCS modulates these distinct forms of aggression in healthy populations can inform future research on its therapeutic potential within clinical settings.
越来越多的证据表明，背外侧前额叶皮层（dlPFC）在攻击行为中起着关键作用，并且有可能使用经颅直流电刺激（tDCS）来调节这种行为。然而，以前没有研究专门研究双侧tDCS对反应性攻击和主动性攻击的不同影响，因此本研究是第一个使用神经调节来探索这种差异的研究。出于这个目的，我们采用双盲、假刺激对照设计，研究了双半球前额叶tDCS对30名健康成年人的影响。所有参与者在dlPFC上接受三种类型的刺激：右阳极/左阴极、右阴极/左阳极和假tDCS。在刺激过程中，参与者接受了泰勒攻击范式的修改版，其中包括两个不同的任务：一个用于测量主动性攻击（即pTAP），一个用于测量反应性攻击（即rTAP）。他们还填写了自我报告问卷，测量个人的攻击水平、冲动性和同理心，以测试这些构念是否与pTAP和rTAP中的攻击反应相关。结果显示，两种有效刺激模式下，男性的主动性攻击均增加，而反应性攻击仅在右阴极/左阳极tDCS时增加。女性在右阴极/左阳极tDCS期间表现出主动性攻击增加，但在右阳极/左阴极刺激期间反应性攻击减少。这些发现表明，通过dlPFC刺激对攻击行为存在性别依赖性调节。这些结果的相关性不仅限于健康个体，因为dlPFC功能障碍是几种与攻击行为相关的精神疾病的共同特征。了解tDCS如何调节健康人群中这些不同形式的攻击行为，可以为未来关于其在临床环境中治疗潜力的研究提供信息。
