Experimental approach to the study of learned aggression
N. Kudryavtseva (Institute of Cytology and Genetics SDRAS, Novosibirsk,
Russia)
The formation of the aggressive type of behavior in male mice following
repeated victories in daily agonistic confrontations sets up promising
conditions for studying the mechanisms of learned aggression. It has been
shown that the repeated positive fighting experience changes many items
of individual and social behavior in winners. Chronic experience of aggression
changes brain monoaminergic activities (metabolism, receptors). Application
of sensory contact technique for study on the behavioral, physiological
and neurochemical mechanisms of learned aggression will be considered.(back
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Facilitating effects of corticosterone on brain mechanisms
involved in violent behavior: Single and repeated treatments
Jozsef Haller (Institute of Experimental Medicine, Budapest, Hungary)
Menno Kruk (Amsterdam Center for Drug Research, The Netherlands)
Results: (1) activation of the hypothalamic attack area by itself is
sufficient to elicit high stress levels of corticosterone, even in the
absence of an opponent; (2) similar increases of plasma corticosterone
produce a rapid onset, short lasting facilitation of hypothalamic attacks
in adrenalectomized rats; (3) corticosterone facilitates the initial expression
of hypothalamically-elicited attack behaviour in naive rats. (4) repeated
dissociation or association of acute corticosterone increases with attack
induce long-lasting changes in hypothalamic attack.(back
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Serotonin and aggression in children
John Constantino (Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis,
MO)
Dennis Murphy (NIMH, Bethesda, MD)
Numerous studies have demonstrated associations between hostile-aggressive
behavior and low CSF levels of the serotonin metabolite 5-HIAA. We
conducted a prospective longitudinal study of 193 neurologically normal
human newborns whose CSF 5-HIAA was obtained during the first three months
of life. 5-HIAA was weakly inversely correlated with family history
of antisocial personality disorder (r= -.12; p<.05) and was a very modest
predictor of externalizing behavior at 2.5 years follow-up (r= -.16).(back
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Experimental investigation of the serotonin hypothesis
of aggressive behavior
Michael McCloskey, Mitchell Berman, Pamela Posey, and Virginia Crawford
(University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS)
Emil Coccaro (Medical College of Pennsylvania, Hahnemann University
Medical School, Philadelphia, PA)
Data from the second year of a five-year NIMH-funded study designed
to address the "serotonergic (5-HT) hypothesis" of aggression will be presented.
5-HT functioning will be manipulated using paroxetine. Aggressive behavior
will then be observed under controlled laboratory conditions. It is expected
that raising 5-HT levels will result in lower levels of aggressive behavior.
If so, this would provide evidence for a causal link between 5-HT activity
and human aggression .(back to top)