Intrinsic neural network dynamics underlying the ability to down‑regulate emotions in male perpetrators of intimate partner violence against women
Metadata
Show full item recordEditorial
Springer Nature
Materia
Intimate partner violence against women Male perpetrators Emotion regulation Reappraisal Resting-state fMRI Spectral dynamic causal modelling Effective connectivity
Date
2023-09-09Referencia bibliográfica
Amaoui, S., Marín-Morales, A., Martín-Pérez, C. et al. Intrinsic neural network dynamics underlying the ability to down-regulate emotions in male perpetrators of intimate partner violence against women. Brain Struct Funct 228, 2025–2040 (2023). [https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-023-02696-x]
Sponsorship
CRUE-CSIC agreement; Springer Nature; Spanish Government PSI2016-79481-R PID2019-111565 GB; International Mobility Grant University of Granada; Spanish Public Administration "Ministerio de Universidades; European Union through the "NextGenerationEUAbstract
Research has pointed to difficulties in emotion regulation as a risk factor for perpetrating intimate partner violence against
women (IPVAW). While efforts have been made to understand the brain mechanisms underlying emotion regulation strategies
such as reappraisal, little is known about the intrinsic neural dynamics supporting this strategy in male perpetrators. Restingstate
functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to characterise the network dynamics underlying reappraisal. Spectral
dynamic causal modelling was performed to examine the effective connectivity (EC) within a predefined reappraisal-related
brain network. 26 men convicted for an IPVAW crime [male perpetrators] were compared to 29 men convicted of other crimes
[other offenders] and 29 men with no criminal records [non-offenders]. The ability to down-regulate emotions in response
to IPVAW stimuli was used as a covariate to explore its association with male perpetrators' EC. The analysis revealed that
(1) compared to non-offenders, both convicted groups exhibited increased EC within prefrontal areas, enhanced EC from
prefrontal to temporoparietal regions and decreased EC in the opposite direction; (2) male perpetrators compared to other
offenders showed increased EC from temporoparietal to prefrontal regions and, increased EC from the supplementary motor
area to frontal areas; (3) connections involving dorsolateral prefrontal cortex were found to be potential predictors of the
ability to down-regulate emotions. The study provides a deeper characterisation of the brain architecture of the processes
that underlie IPVAW. This knowledge could inform the work of adaptive emotion regulation strategies in intervention programmes
for male perpetrators in order to reduce the high recidivism rat