https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-28863-3

Although anger and aggression have been researched since decades, there are still few studies on the neural functions that dissociate feelings of anger from the regulation of aggressive responses or reactive punishment behaviors. Anger and aggression are conceptually related, but anger does not always result in aggression. In fact, the emotion of anger, which is defined as a negative emotional response to goal-blockage and unfair behavior by others, is conceptually distinct from aggression, which is defined as an action intended to cause harm to another individual. Although aggression is often perceived as maladaptive, certain forms of aggression may actually serve evolutionary adaptive purposes, such as securing resources or defending against attacks.

Pertaining to the brain activation patterns underlying anger, the majority of neuroimaging studies have investigated this emotion indirectly by showing angry faces, or by using recall, imagery, or rumination of anger-eliciting situations. The results of these studies are very divergent in their findings. Whereas some findings point to an involvement of the orbitofrontal cortex, other results suggest reduced activations in the orbitofrontal cortex and somatosensory cortex as well as increased activations in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and insula. Still other studies found an association of the temporal poles, or the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex with anger.