Brain Zaps could "suppress" the intention to commit physical or sexual violence



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The researchers asked participants in a new study the likelihood that they behave like protagonists in two hypothetical vignettes – hitting someone with a bottle of beer and violating an acquaintance.

Those who had received 20 minutes of painless, non invasive brain stimulation the day before were respectively 47% and 70% less likely to do so.

Thirty-one percent of the effect of stimulation was attributed to participants' perception that hypothetical acts were morally wrong.

The new study is based on the PhD dissertation of lead author Olivia Choy at the University of Pennsylvania. Choy is an assistant professor of psychology at Nanyang Technological University – and LifeZette told him about the research

"What's new is the finding that the" positive regulation "of the prefrontal cortex can reduce the intention to commit violent acts.In addition, we found that the reduction of aggressive intent was partly explained by improved judgments on the morality of acts of aggression, "said Choy

"This research could help inform future approaches to reducing aggressive intentions and behaviors, and noted that her research is only in its infancy – and that the results" will need to be replicated. and expanded before considering practical applications. "However, the experimental design that she used highlights the causal role of the prefrontal cortex in violence and aggression – a high bar that the most neuroimaging and neuropsychology studies in the past have largely failed.

Specifically, the researchers administered stimulation to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of 81 healthy adult volunteers who were recruited in Philadelphia between April 2015 and April 2016.

The next day, researchers measured the number of healthy adult volunteers. intention of these participants to commit acts of physical and sexual violence by responding to hypothetical vignettes depicting rape and physical assault. They also measured aggressive behavior through a task of placing pins in a virtual doll intended to represent a friend.

The results of the study, "Stimulation of the Prefrontal Cortex Reduces Intention to Commit Aggression: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo" Controlled, Stratified, Parallel-Group Trial, "appeared in the Journal of Neuroscience Earlier this Week

The study controlled baseline levels of aggression and other factors that could have accounted for the effect. Ethnicity did not have a significant impact on the results.

Related: Your handshake can give clues to your cerebral health

In his dissertation, Choy notes: "Understanding the etiology of aggression" The ability to handle such complex and fundamental aspects of cognition and behavior from the outside of the body has enormous social, ethical, and perhaps some legitimate implications. "

", said Roy Hamilton, d years old Penn Today. Hamilton is a neurologist at Penn's Perelman School of Medicine and one of the authors of the Journal of Neuroscience article

"Behavioral changes begin with the changing intention, and that Is a first step. "

Johns Hopkins Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences describes transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) as a "noninvasive and painless brain stimulation treatment that uses direct electrical currents to stimulate specific parts of the brain … It is cheap , non-invasive, painless and safe. It is also easy to administer and the equipment is easily portable. The most common side effect of tDCS is mild itching or tingling on the scalp. "

Choy said that she intends to continue her research in this exciting field of study." 19659002 "The reductions produced by STCC were limited to aggressive intent, rather than aggressive behavior, but repeated sessions over a longer period may produce behavioral changes. behavior begins with change of intent, and it's a first step, "said Choy

Michele Blood is a freelance writer based in Flemington, New Jersey and a regular contributor to LifeZette. [19659018]! (F, b, e, v, n, t, s) {if (f.fbq) returns; n = f.fbq = function () {n.callMethod? N.callMethod.apply (n, arguments ): n .queue.push (arguments); if (! f._fbq) f._fbq = n; n.push = n; n.loaded =! 0; n.version = 2.0 & # 39; ; n.queue = []; t = b.createElement (e); t.async =! 0; t.src = v; s = b.getElementsByTagName (e) [0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore ( t, s)} (window, document), "script", https: //connect.facebook.net/e n_US / fbevents.js & # 39;); fbq (& # 39 ;, & # 39; 857570344332350 & # 39 ;, {}); fbq (& # 39; Track; PageView & # 39;); [19659021] !! Function (f, b, e, v, n, t, s) {if (f.fbq) returns; n = f.fbq = function () {n.callMethod? N.callMethod.apply (n, arguments): n.queue.push (arguments)}; if (! f._fbq) f._fbq = n; n.push = n; n.loaded =! 0; n.version = 2.0 & # 39 ;; n.queue = []; t = b.createElement (e); t.async =! 0; t.src = v; s = b.getElementsByTagName (e) [0]; s.parentNode.insertBefo re (t, s)} (window, document, "script", https: //connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); fbq (& # 39 ;, & # 39; 195428611285992 & # 39 ;, {}); fbq ("track", "Pageview"); fbq ('track', 'ViewContent') [ad_2]
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