Investigation of sub-types of aggression with event-related potentials (ERP) and event-related oscillations (ERO)

Aggression is a form of behavior that causes problems in personal and social life in case of excess. Although aggression is not a homogeneous concept, it can be classified according to its expression or underlying neuronal / motivational processes. From the cognitive neuroscience perspective, reactive aggression occurs when the neuronal signal from limbic structures, which are associated with emotions, cannot be regulated in the frontal cortex areas, which are involved in the control of behavior. Therefore, it is important to understand the relationship between aggression and executive functions such as response inhibition. In present study, EEG data recorded during Go - NoGo paradigm of 22 healthy participants who showed high and low aggression tendencies according to Aggression Questionnaire was used. EEG data was analyzed in both time and time-frequency domains, and comparisons between groups were made over Event-Related Potentials (ERP) and Event Related Oscillations (ERO). While wavelet transform method was used in time-frequency analysis of EEG data, statistical analyzes were carried out with cluster-based permutation tests. With wavelet transform, both the evoked and total activity were obtained, thus information on frequency components that do not phase-locked to the stimulus were obtained. Cluster-based permutation tests analyzes made it possible to analyze data based on objective criteria and with higher statistical precision. In time domain: significant differences were found between groups in the first 370 ms after the stimulus for both Go and NoGo conditions. In time-frequency domain, significant group differences were observed for first 300 ms and 600-800 ms after the stimulus for low beta band for both total and evoked activity, and for first 100-350 ms after the stimulus for evoked alpha band. These findings between the groups, which were divided based on aggression tendencies, have been discussed in terms of the information they provide on the neuronal basis of aggression.