Case study: topographical brain mapping in hostility following mild closed head injury.

Previous research suggests that right frontal and temporal lobe arousal may inhibit and elicit hostility, respectively. For example, emotional lability (including rage) has resulted from lesion of the bulbar motor nuclei, and neocortical upper motor neurons in particular (Lieberman & Benson, 1977). Ablation of hypothalamic sites has resulted in sham rage (Flynn, Cummings & Tomiyasu, 1988; Sachdev, Smith, Matheson & Last, 1992; Tonkonogy & Geller, 1992) suggesting that these frontal pathways may inhibit hostility. In the present study, a patient with hostility management problems secondary to closed head injury from a motor vehicle accident was evaluated using topographical brain mapping and quantitative electroencephalograph (QEEG) techniques. Comparisons of beta magnitude were performed between frontal and temporal sites at the right and left cerebrums. The results support the contention of an oppositional anterior to posterior mediation of hostility. The present electroencephalagraphic research supports the predominant neuropsychological theory that the right orbital-frontal region inhibits the right amygdaloid bodies, thereby decreasing hostility level (Kolb & Wishaw, 1990).