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Table 1 Activation of brain areas associated with aggressive motivation

From: Imaging the neural circuitry and chemical control of aggressive motivation

  Volume of Activation % Change in BOLD Signal
Brain Area Mate Alone Mate + Intruder Mate Alone Mate + Intruder
retrosplenial cortex 26 (10, 61) 50 (26, 99)** 5.0 ± 0.3 10.5 ± 0.5*
orbital cortex refs [30, 31, 203] 9 (1, 14) 19 (4, 44)* 3.0 ± 0.2 4.1 ± 0.2
auditory cortex 20 (4, 61) 38 (23, 51)* 4.3 ± 0.5 10.1 ± 0.6
somatosensory cortex 114 (16, 266) 221 (141, 392)* 3.7 ± 0.3 11.9 ± 1.1
prelimbic cortex refs [30, 31, 203–205] 2 (0, 11) 8 (2, 25)* 1.7 ± 0.1 3.5 ± 0.2*
CA1 hippocampus refs [21, 30] 27 (10, 67) 46 (32, 110)* 3.1 ± 0.2 5.7 ± 0.2*
dentate gyrus refs [21, 30, 206] 20 (3, 48) 32 (22, 80)** 2.8 ± 0.2 5.2 ± 0.2*
cortical n. amygdala refs [28, 207–210] 14 (5, 29) 23 (14, 52)* 4.6 ± 0.3 7.8 ± 0.3*
basal n. amygdala ref [27] 4 (1, 11) 10 (2, 17)** 3.1 ± 0.2 4.3 ± 0.2
medial n. amygdala refs [27–29, 205–207, 209–216] 1 (0, 6) 3 (0, 9)* 2.7 ± 0.2 4.6 ± 0.2
bed n. stria terminalis refs [25, 27, 29, 30, 205–208, 211–214, 217] 2 (0, 5) 6 (2, 16)* 3.4 ± 0.3 5.1 ± 0.2
lateral post. n. thalamus 2 (0, 9) 8 (2, 11)** 1.6 ± 0.2 4.2 ± 0.2*
anterior n. thalamus 3 (0, 6) 6 (2, 12)** 1.4 ± 0.2 4.9 ± 0.2**
ventral pallidum 5 (0, 17) 11 (6, 21)* 2.2 ± 0.2 4.1 ± 0.2
lateral hypothalamus refs [25, 29, 32, 42, 44–48, 178, 211, 212, 214, 217–225] 10 (3, 26) 25 (6, 54)* 3.1 ± 0.3 5.7 ± 0.2*
PVN hypothalamus refs [205–207, 211, 213, 214, 217] 1 (0, 2) 3 (1, 5)* 2.0 ± 0.1 3.8 ± 0.1
  1. The two left columns report the median (min-max) number of voxels activated (volume of activation) in male residents when presented with their female cage mate (mate alone) or their cage mate plus a novel adult male intruder (mate + intruder). Male residents (n = 10) were tested for each condition in a counterbalanced design and the data analyzed using a Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test. The two columns on the right report the percent change in BOLD signal (mean ± SE) for that brain area for each experimental condition. These BOLD time course data were compared by taking the first 12 data points following stimulus presentation for each condition (up to the time of piloerection) and using a repeated measures 2-way ANOVA to assess if there was a significant difference between conditions. Those areas that showed a significant increase in the number of activated voxels were screened from a data base of eighty-three brain areas and comprise the putative neural circuit of aggressive motivation. Shown in parentheses under ten of these sixteen brain areas are references from a literature review on the neuroanatomy of aggressive behavior across different species, gender and agonistic models. Note that the remaining areas not described in the animal literature are primarily from the cortex and thalamus. p < 0.05*; p < 0.01**
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