Anger in healthy men: a PET study using script-driven imagery

Background: An understanding of the neurobiological basis of normal emotional processing is useful in formulating hypotheses regarding the pathophysiology of psychiatric illnesses. Methods: This study examined the mediating functional neuroanatomy of anger in eight healthy men. Narrative scripts were developed from autobiographical information to induce anger and neutral states. The subjects imagined the content of the narrative scripts to induce anger during positron emission tomography to measure normalized regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF). Psychophysiologic responses and subjective ratings of emotional state were measured for each condition. Statistical parametric maps were constructed to reflect the Anger versus Neutral state contrast. Results: Anger was associated with activation of the left orbitofrontal cortex, right anterior cingulate cortex affective division, and bilateral anterior temporal poles. Conclusions: These results suggest that the subjective experience of anger is associated with rCBF increases in anterior paralimbic regions of the brain.