Results : In ADHD , deviant prefrontal and cingulate functional activity was associated with increased IA .
Structural alterations were most pronounced in the cingulate cortex .
Subjects with DBDs showed marked cortico‐subcortical dysfunctions .
ADHD and DBDs share similar cortico‐limbic structural and functional alterations .
RI deficits in ADHD highlighted hypoactivity in the dorso/ventro‐lateral PFC , insula , and striatum , while the paralimbic system was primarily dysfunctional in DBDs .
Across disorders , extensively altered cortico‐limbic dysfunctions underlie IA , while RI was mostly associated with aberrant prefrontal activity .
Conclusion : Control network deficits were evidence d across clinical phenotypes in IA and RI .
Dysfunctions at any level within these cortico‐subcortical projections lead to deficient cognitive‐affective control by ascribing emotional salience to otherwise irrelevant stimuli .
HighlightsImpulsive aggression and dysfunctional response inhibition are present in ADHD and DBDs .
Broad fronto‐striatal‐cerebellar dysfunctions have been implicated in ADHD and DBDs .
Prefrontal and cingulate cortical deficits are associated with IA in ADHD.Severe widespread cortico‐subcortical breakdowns are associated with IA in DBDs .
RI deficits have been attributed to hypoactivity in the lateral PFC , insula , and amygdala .
Whether reduced gray matter volumes relate to ADHD and DBDs or if present as an IA epiphenomenon remains debatable .
Background : Although impulsive aggression ( IA ) and dysfunctional response inhibition ( RI ) are hallmarks of attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD ) and disrupted behavioral disorders ( DBDs ) , little is known about their shared and distinct deviant neural mechanisms .
Impulsive and premeditated aggression: a factor analysis of self-reported acts
Although aggression research in general has been hampered by a lack of objective measurements of aggressive acts , two types of aggressive acts , impulsive vs. premeditated , have been studied extensively in recent years . These two types of aggression have been primarily measured by structured or semi-structured interviews . The current study was design ed to assess the construct validity of these two types of aggression using a self-report question naire which included items gleaned from the content of interviews used in past studies . For this study , 216 college students assessed their own aggressive acts rather than answering general questions about aggression . The students were not significantly different from normative sample groups on self-report measures of impulsiveness , aggression , and anger/hostility . A PCA factor analysis with a promax rotation of the items on the self-report question naire identified four factors : impulsive aggression ; mood on the day the act occurred ; premeditated aggression ; and agitation . Thus , impulsive and premeditated aggression are independent constructs which exist in varying degrees among these ' normal ' persons in a non- clinical sample . Impulsive aggression was characterized in part by feelings of remorse following the acts and by thought confusion . Premeditated aggression was related to social gain and dominance
Results : In ADHD , deviant prefrontal and cingulate functional activity was associated with increased IA .
Structural alterations were most pronounced in the cingulate cortex .
Subjects with DBDs showed marked cortico‐subcortical dysfunctions .
ADHD and DBDs share similar cortico‐limbic structural and functional alterations .
RI deficits in ADHD highlighted hypoactivity in the dorso/ventro‐lateral PFC , insula , and striatum , while the paralimbic system was primarily dysfunctional in DBDs .
Across disorders , extensively altered cortico‐limbic dysfunctions underlie IA , while RI was mostly associated with aberrant prefrontal activity .
Conclusion : Control network deficits were evidence d across clinical phenotypes in IA and RI .
Dysfunctions at any level within these cortico‐subcortical projections lead to deficient cognitive‐affective control by ascribing emotional salience to otherwise irrelevant stimuli .
HighlightsImpulsive aggression and dysfunctional response inhibition are present in ADHD and DBDs .
Broad fronto‐striatal‐cerebellar dysfunctions have been implicated in ADHD and DBDs .
Prefrontal and cingulate cortical deficits are associated with IA in ADHD.Severe widespread cortico‐subcortical breakdowns are associated with IA in DBDs .
RI deficits have been attributed to hypoactivity in the lateral PFC , insula , and amygdala .
Whether reduced gray matter volumes relate to ADHD and DBDs or if present as an IA epiphenomenon remains debatable .
Background : Although impulsive aggression ( IA ) and dysfunctional response inhibition ( RI ) are hallmarks of attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD ) and disrupted behavioral disorders ( DBDs ) , little is known about their shared and distinct deviant neural mechanisms .