Brain Health and the Batterer

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is an important criminal justice and public health problem that negatively affects quality of life and health. Research is needed to better understand IPV perpetration to generate more targeted interventions and prevent victimization. There is a vast literature supporting the role of various psychosocial factors that influence IPV perpetration, and interest is growing in research contributions from the biological sciences. One topic that is oft missing from the discussion of biological drivers of IPV perpetration is the reward systems of the brain and how they might influence patterns of violent behavior in intimate relationships. Although preliminary data from both animal and human research suggest that there are perturbations in the reward circuitry of the brain associated with aggressive behavior, these findings have the potential to inform IPV research and integrate theories of IPV perpetration in a biopsychosocial model.