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Category: Project

Description: Neuroscientists studying bullying have primarily focused on the psychopathology of diagnosable offenders or the resulting symptomatology of victimization, with less attention paid to theories suggesting bullying may be an interpersonal strategy. To better integrate neuroscience with new developments from the aggression literature, we recruited a sample of adolescents (N=24) engaging in high rates of delinquent behavior. During an fMRI scan, adolescents observed instances of social exclusion and social inclusion. We found that increases in bullying were associated with greater activation in the ventral striatum, amygdala, medial prefrontal cortex, and insula while viewing social exclusion relative to inclusion. Activation in these regions is commonly associated with reward-learning, salience monitoring, and motivational processes, suggesting that bullies show altered processing of interpersonal cues and social dynamic experiences in their environment. These findings highlight the need for neuroscientists to invest greater time and resources investigating the phenomenon of bullying; specifically, when it is likely to occur and why an individual is engaging in the deleterious act.