• In this study, we examined effects of E2 on neural network dynamics associated with ER using a within-subject design with two conditions (E2 administration and placebo).

• We tested whether the intrinsic effective connectivity of ER-related brain regions in the absence of task stimuli would be associated with the prospective behavioural ER ability (i.e., the success to up- or down-regulate emotions) after E2 administration.

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• Cognitive reappraisal is an emotion regulation strategy which seems to play a crucial role in the violence committed by male perpetrators over their female partner/ex-partners. The 

•  However, the neural architecture underlying emotional dysregulation in male perpetrators in the absence of task stimuli i.e., directional baseline connectivity remains unknown.

• In this study, we examined for the first time how effective connectivity at rest differs between male perpetrators compared to men with no criminal records. 

• To date, the neural underpinnings of regulation tendency at rest have not been fully researched.

• Here, we examined how the effective connectivity of the brain in the absence of specific task demands relates to individual regulation tendency to choose reappraisal (i.e., reinterpreting a negative stimulus) over distraction as regulation strategy.