Aggressive Behavior Clinical Trial
Official title:
Changes in Activation Patterns in the Ventro-Medial Prefrontal Cortex of Healthy Adolescents During the Imagination and Observation of Aggressive Behavior
This study will use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine what happens in
the brains of adolescents when they are exposed to violent media and how imagining aggressive
behavior affects brain function. The study will measure physiological changes (such as the
amount of electricity generated by the skin, heart rate, and breathing rate) related to these
tasks during fMRI. MRI uses a magnetic field and radio waves to obtain images of body organs
and tissues. For fMRI, the subject performs certain tasks during the MRI scanning to examine
changes in the brain regions that are involved with those tasks. During the scan, the subject
lies in a metal cylinder (the scanner), wearing earplugs to muffle loud noises that occur
with the scanning.
Healthy right-handed native English-speaking males between 14 and 17 years of age may be
eligible for this study. Candidates are screened with a neurological examination and
neuropsychological testing that includes questions about their feelings, experiences, and
behavior, and tests of reading level and intelligence.
Participants undergo fMRI and fill out questionnaires before and after the scanning. Some
children are asked to play 20 minutes of video games before the test. During the scan, the
child views short neutral video clips and video clips of people fighting or imagine
self-defense situations. The child is asked to rate the video clips for their aggressive
content or tell how he or she feels about the imagined situations. Two small straps are
wrapped around the child's index and middle fingers to measure changes in the amount of
electricity generated by the skin, and a strap at the ring finger measures the child's heart
rate. A band around the child's chest records breathing rates.
Children who cannot or do not want to undergo MRI testing may be asked to view commercially
available video clips of people fighting and neutral video scenes, such as sports scenes.
They are asked to rate them on their violent content and excitement, or to rate the video
games they have played on their violent/nonviolent content and their popularity. In addition,
the children fill out questionnaires about their media use and exposure to violence.
All participating families are contacted by telephone 1 day and 2 weeks after the experiment
for parents to answer questions about how the child has been doing and for the children to
answer questions about their feelings.
Objective. The purpose of the protocol is to localize the prefrontal cortical regions
mediating aggressive behavior. Utilizing two different experimental neuropsychological tasks
during functional MRI, we will investigate hypotheses regarding the role of the ventro-medial
prefrontal cortex in processing imagined and observed aggressive behavior. Additionally, we
will determine the relationship between non-frontal neural structures involved in emotional
expression, such as the amygdala, and the prefrontal structures involved in executive
functions that may modulate aggressive behavior. We will record skin conductance responses
(SCRs), heart rates, and respiration during the experiments to investigate autonomic changes
during the processing of aggressive behavior.
Study Population. In three separate studies, normal adolescent volunteers will participate in
experiments dealing with processing of aggressive behavior using functional magnetic
resonance imaging (fMRI). In addition, we will conduct two pre-studies in normal adolescent
volunteers in order to determine appropriate stimuli for the fMRI studies.
Design. The experiments we are conducting will employ within-subject, rapid event-related
fMRI designs to determine whether the observation and imagination of aggressive behavior
deactivates the ventro-medial prefrontal cortex (VM-PFC) and how varying intensities of
imagined and observed aggressive acts may influence changes in activation patterns in the
VM-PFC.
Outcome Measures. The data collected will consist of fMRI activation images corresponding to
varying intensities of observed or imagined aggression, questionnaire results, amplitudes of
the skin conductance responses, heart rates, and respiration parameters. The results gained
from this protocol will provide further evidence for the role of the ventro-medial prefrontal
cortex in processing aggressive behavior, particularly in adolescents.
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