GABA Boosts Relief from Coercive Power: an fMRI study

Abstract

Individuals under coercive control frequently suffer from anxiety, with recent research asserting this situation as a catalyst for certain types of violence directed towards those suffering under the most serious and insidious forms of coercive power –such as domestic violence victims. Studies researching this matter have skewed towards dissembling manipulation, or participants' obedience levels, neglecting the fact that agents under coercive power are also victims of coercive violence. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we investigate the effects of the anxiolytic GABAA (gamma-Aminobutyric acid) modulator, lorazepam, on behavioral and neural levels in response to coercive power. We used a virtual obedience to authority paradigm inspired in Milgram's renowned experiments of the same nature. An experimenter ordered a volunteer to press a handheld button to initiate actions that carry different moral consequences, including harming or helping others. Our results showed that lorazepam administration, relative to placebo, slowed down reaction times when initiating harming behaviors, but accelerated reaction times for helping actions, despite comparable subjective ratings regarding perceived coercion. Coercive harming significantly increased activation in the amygdala, hippocampus, orbitofrontal cortex, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). After lorazepam administration, activity in the amygdala and hippocampus decreased, but activity in the dlPFC and right temporoparietal junction increased. The lower activity in the hippocampus predicted higher subjective ratings for perceived coercion. Furthermore, lorazepam administration significantly decreased the functional connectivity of the hippocampus with the dlPFC during coercive harming. Our results shed light on the coping strategies against coercion beyond merely examining its effects.

The anti-anxiety drug lorazepam changes implicit behaviors but not explicit evaluations of sense of agency under authoritative pressure: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study

“…The sequence of the scenarios (harming, helping, neutral) was pseudo-randomized within each run. The order of runs was counterbalanced across participants ( Cheng et al, 2021b ).…”

“…For functional changes, changes in blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) T2* weighted MR signal were collected along the AC–PC plane using a gradient echo-planar imaging (EPI) sequence (TR = 2200 ms, TE = 30 ms, FOV = 220 mm, flip angle = 90°, matrix = 64 × 64, 36 transversal slices, voxel size = 3.4 mm × 3.4 mm × 3.0 mm, no gap). High-resolution structural T1-weighted images were acquired using a 3D magnetization-prepared rapid gradient echo sequence (TR = 2530 ms, TE = 3.5 ms, FOV = 256 mm, flip angle = 7°, slice thickness = 1 mm, matrix = 256 × 256, no gap) ( Cheng et al, 2021b ).…”

“…EPI images were realigned and filtered (128-s cutoff), then coregistered to these brain templates, normalized to Montreal Neurologic Institute (MNI) space, and smoothed (8 mm FWHM, full width at half maximum). The hemodynamic response function was time-locked to stimulus onset ( Cheng et al, 2021b ).…”