Language and the modulation of impulsive aggression

The current conceptualization of the functional anatomy of impulsive aggression relies on data largely derived from studies of animal models of defensive rage. However, animal models cannot account for the replicable findings of verbal impairments and abnormalities in the language processing regions of the brain, described in more recent studies of impulsive aggression in humans. The authors present an updated model of impulsive aggression that preserves the core defensive rage functional anatomy while implicating the brain regions associated directly and indirectly with language processing and their relationship to executive function as integral to the etiology, modulation, and treatment of impulsive aggression.