The neural orchestra of aggression: neurogenetic network mapping of human aggressiveness

Abstract

Over the last century, researchers have successfully mapped the core neural circuitry underlying aggression in non-human animals. In contrast, advances in human neuroimaging have been hindered by persistent challenges with reproducibility. Here, we adopted a recently developed network-based framework to test the hypothesis that seemingly heterogeneous findings in aggression research converge on a common brain network. We conducted network mapping to integrate functional and structural imaging findings of human aggression across 39 and 31 samples, respectively, revealing substantial overlap across both functional (up to 84%) and structural (up to 74%) imaging modalities. Strikingly, we found that these networks were largely explained by the expression of genes implicated in genome-wide association studies of aggression and related phenotypes. By integrating network-based approaches of neuroimaging data with gene expression, our work provides a reliable and comprehensive account of the neurogenetic architecture underlying aggressive behavior, resolving longstanding discrepancies in its neurobiology.