The impact of cognitive bias modification of interpretation on hostile attribution bias, reactive aggression and neural mechanisms.

Hostile Attribution Bias (HAB) has been demonstrated to exert adverse impacts on reactive aggression (RA). Consequently, it is essential to investigate its prevention strategies and the brain-level alterations induced by these strategies. Cognitive Bias Modification of Interpretation (CBMI) has exhibited potential in modifying HAB. The current objective of this research is to explore its influence on individuals' hostile attributions bias and reactive aggression, and conduct an exploratory study on the underlying brain change mechanisms associated with behavioral alterations. The college students with high HAB and aggression levels were randomly assigned to a trained group and a control group. The trained group participated in a one-month-long CBM-I program, whereas the control group completed one-month-long reading tasks. The results indicated significant HAB and reactive aggression reductions within the trained group. In the trained group, the resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) between the anterior medial prefrontal cortex (amPFC) and the calcarine exhibited a remarkable increase, and this augmentation was positively correlated with the decrease in HAB. In contrast, no significant changes were detected in the control group after training. Our results suggest that the CBM-I has an effect on ameliorating individuals' hostile attributions bias and reactive aggression and has exploratorily uncovered the corresponding changes at the brain level.