The multiscale architecture of trait aggression: from meta-analytic convergence to multimodal characterization
Background. Trait aggression shows substantial interindividual variability, yet its neurobiological architecture across structural, functional, molecular, and macroscale organizational levels remains poorly understood. Methods. We developed a convergent multiscale framework to characterize the neurobiological architecture associated with trait aggression. We first integrated a large-sample voxel-based morphometry analysis (n = 922) with published neuroimaging studies using two complementary coordinate-based meta-analytic approaches, activation likelihood estimation and seed-based d mapping (total N = 3,671). Convergent meta-analytic findings were subsequently mapped onto functional connectivity networks, and their molecular signatures were characterized using imaging transcriptomics and neurotransmitter mapping. Finally, we examined whether the spatial organization of aggression-related networks was embedded within intrinsic multimodal brain hierarchies spanning morphometric, functional, transcriptomic, and neurochemical dimensions. Results. Across complementary analyses, trait aggression converged on a reproducible structural-functional network centered on the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. This architecture exhibited distinct molecular signatures, including gene-expression patterns enriched for synaptic functions and robust spatial associations with serotonergic, dopaminergic, and noradrenergic transporter systems. Moreover, the spatial organization of the aggression-related functional network was systematically predicted by the brain's intrinsic multimodal gradients, indicating that it is embedded within broader principles of cortical hierarchical organization. Conclusions. these findings move beyond the localization of aggression to discrete brain regions and identify a reproducible multiscale architecture linking aggression-related structural variation to functional network organization, molecular signatures, and the brain's intrinsic multimodal hierarchy. This integrative framework provides a systems-level account of the neurobiological basis of individual differences in trait aggression.