Neuroimaging of Conduct Disorder and Aggression

Conduct disorder and aggressive behaviour in young people are marked by persistent violation of social norms and heightened interpersonal conflict. Neuroimaging approaches have elucidated key alterations in both structural and functional brain organisation that underpin these behaviours. Diffusion tensor imaging reveals atypical microstructure in pathways such as the uncinate fasciculus and corpus callosum, which connect limbic regions (notably the amygdala) to prefrontal control areas. Resting-state and task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging demonstrate disrupted interactions within the default-mode, salience and executive-control networks, manifesting as heightened threat sensitivity, reduced empathy and diminished top-down regulation. Together, these findings outline a connectivity-based model in which aberrant limbic-prefrontal communication predisposes to impulsivity and reactive or proactive aggression, while also suggesting that targeted interventions may induce plastic changes in these circuits.

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Neuroimaging of Conduct Disorder and Aggression publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in neuroimaging of conduct disorder and aggression across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI): An MRI technique measuring the directional movement of water molecules to infer the integrity and organisation of white-matter tracts.

Fractional anisotropy (FA): A DTI-derived index reflecting how directionally constrained water diffusion is within tissue, often used as a marker of white-matter coherence.

Mean diffusivity (MD): A DTI metric indicating the average rate of water diffusion within tissue, sensitive to changes in cellular density and structure.

Uncinate fasciculus (UF): A prominent white-matter bundle connecting anterior temporal regions (including the amygdala) to orbitofrontal cortex, crucial for emotion regulation and social cognition.

Resting-state functional connectivity: The measurement of spontaneous, low-frequency fluctuations in brain activity at rest to map intrinsic functional networks such as the default-mode and salience networks.

References

1. Rapid white matter changes in children with conduct problems during a parenting intervention. Translational Psychiatry (2023).
2. White matter microstructure, traumatic brain injury, and disruptive behavior disorders in girls and boys. Frontiers in Neuroscience (2024).
3. Aggression subtypes relate to distinct resting state functional connectivity in children and adolescents with disruptive behavior. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (2020).