Reducing aggressive responses to social exclusion using transcranial direct current stimulation

Paolo Riva; Leonor J Romero Lauro; C Nathan DeWall; David S Chester; Brad J Bushman

doi:10.1093/scan/nsu053

Reducing aggressive responses to social exclusion using transcranial direct current stimulation

Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2015 Mar;10(3):352-6. doi: 10.1093/scan/nsu053. Epub 2014 Apr 18.

Authors

Paolo Riva¹, Leonor J Romero Lauro², C Nathan DeWall², David S Chester², Brad J Bushman³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano, Italy, Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA, Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, OH, USA, and Department of Communication Science, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands [email protected].
² Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano, Italy, Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA, Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, OH, USA, and Department of Communication Science, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
³ Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano, Italy, Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA, Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, OH, USA, and Department of Communication Science, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano, Italy, Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA, Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, OH, USA, and Department of Communication Science, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Abstract

A vast body of research showed that social exclusion can trigger aggression. However, the neural mechanisms involved in regulating aggressive responses to social exclusion are still largely unknown. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) modulates the excitability of a target region. Building on studies suggesting that activity in the right ventrolateral pre-frontal cortex (rVLPFC) might aid the regulation or inhibition of social exclusion-related distress, we hypothesized that non-invasive brain polarization through tDCS over the rVLPFC would reduce behavioral aggression following social exclusion. Participants were socially excluded or included while they received tDCS or sham stimulation to the rVLPFC. Next, they received an opportunity to aggress. Excluded participants demonstrated cognitive awareness of their inclusionary status, yet tDCS (but not sham stimulation) reduced their behavioral aggression. Excluded participants who received tDCS stimulation were no more aggressive than included participants. tDCS stimulation did not influence socially included participants' aggression. Our findings provide the first causal test for the role of rVLPFC in modulating aggressive responses to social exclusion. Our findings suggest that modulating activity in a brain area (i.e. the rVLPFC) implicated in self-control and emotion regulation can break the link between social exclusion and aggression.

Keywords: aggression; emotion regulation; social exclusion; social pain; transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).

MeSH terms

Adult
Aggression / psychology*
Aging / psychology
Anger / physiology
Electrodes
Emotions / physiology
Female
Humans
Male
Prefrontal Cortex / physiology
Psychological Distance
Rejection, Psychology*
Sex Characteristics
Social Environment*
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation*
Young Adult