Physical aggressiveness linked to gray matter deficits in brain region, study finds https://t.co/os4otlfH6K
— PsyPost.org (@PsyPost) October 25, 2017
“Human violence is baggage we should have left in the Paleolithic era,” remarked study author David S. Chester, an assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. “However, people keep hurting each other in spite of society’s strict sanctions against doing so.
“The durability of these aggressive tendencies suggests a strong biological basis. I conducted this study to better understand the specific ways in which our biological past impacts our aggressive present.”
The study used high-resolution scans taken using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to compare the brain structure of 138 young adults.
The researchers found that participants with lower gray matter density in the VMPFC were more likely to agree with statements such as “Given enough provocation, I may hit another person” and were also more likely to have been in a physical fight.