Electrically zapping a region of the brain responsible for controlling behavior and making moral decisions reduces violent tendencies, according to a study published in The Journal of Neurosience yesterday (July 2). Researchers suggest these results may help formulate a way of mitigating aggression.
“This study goes some way toward documenting a causal association by showing that enhancing the prefrontal cortex puts the brakes on the impulse to act aggressively,” Adrian Raine, a neurocriminologist at the University of Pennsylvania and coauthor on the paper, tells The Washington Post.
The researchers gave “transcranial direct-current stimulation” to 81 individuals on the tops of their foreheads. While the test group was administered 20 minutes of electrical stimulation, the control group was given only 30 seconds of low current. Next, the subjects had to read two documents—one about a physical assault and the other, a sexual one. Following the reading, they were asked how likely ...
