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Hormones and Behavior Aug 2021Aggression is a fundamental behavior displayed universally among animal species, but hyper- or hypo-aggressiveness can be maladaptive with negative consequences for...
Aggression is a fundamental behavior displayed universally among animal species, but hyper- or hypo-aggressiveness can be maladaptive with negative consequences for individuals and group members. While the social and ecological significance of aggression is well understood, the specific neurobiological and hormonal mechanisms responsible for mediating aggression have not been fully elucidated. Previous studies have shown a relationship between aggressive acts and circulating gonadal steroids, but whether classical nuclear steroid receptors regulate aggression in animals is still uncertain. We examined whether the nuclear androgen receptor (Ar) and nuclear progestin receptor (Pgr) were necessary for aggressive behaviors and maintenance of a dominance relationship in male zebrafish (Danio rerio). Dyadic social interactions of Ar knockout (ArKO), Pgr knockout (PgrKO) and wildtype (WT) controls were observed for two weeks (2-weeks). ArKO zebrafish were significantly less aggressive and had a less defined dominance relationship, whereas PgrKO dominant zebrafish were significantly and persistently more aggressive with a robust dominance relationship. Our results demonstrate the importance of nuclear steroid hormone receptors in regulating aggression of adult male zebrafish and provide new models for understanding of the mechanisms of aggression.
Topics: Aggression; Androgens; Animals; Humans; Male; Receptors, Progesterone; Social Dominance; Zebrafish
PubMed: 34153924
DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2021.105012 -
Aggressive Behavior Mar 2018Poor conditioning to punishment, such as loud tones or electric shock, has been proposed as an important factor involved in the etiology of aggressive and psychopathic...
Poor conditioning to punishment, such as loud tones or electric shock, has been proposed as an important factor involved in the etiology of aggressive and psychopathic behavior. However, it is not known whether the association holds when monetary or social stimulus is used as the unconditioned stimulus, and if aggressive individuals also have impaired conditioning to rewards. In this study, skin conductance responses in a conditioning task involving both monetary/social reward and punishment as unconditioned stimuli were assessed in 340 male and female 8- to 9-year-old children from the community. Children reported their reactive and proactive aggression using the Reactive and Proactive Aggression Questionnaire (RPQ; Raine et al., 2006). Results showed that monetary/social reward and punishment were effective in eliciting physiological classical conditioning in children, and that reduced reward conditioning was associated with high levels of proactive aggression in particular. Findings highlight the importance of distinguishing between reactive and proactive aggression when examining antisocial behavior in children, and suggest that reward-oriented treatment programs may not be effective for children with more proactive, instrumental aggressive behavior.
Topics: Aggression; Autonomic Nervous System; Child; Child Behavior; Conditioning, Classical; Female; Galvanic Skin Response; Humans; Male; Punishment; Reward; Social Perception
PubMed: 29098703
DOI: 10.1002/ab.21738 -
Psychiatry Research Oct 2019While prominent models of suicidal behavior emphasize the hypothalamic- pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation, studies examining its role have yielded contradictory...
While prominent models of suicidal behavior emphasize the hypothalamic- pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation, studies examining its role have yielded contradictory results. One possible explanation is that suicide attempters are a heterogeneous group and HPA axis dysregulation plays a more important role only in a subset of suicidal individuals. HPA axis dysregulation also plays a role in impulsivity and aggression. We hypothesize subgroups of attempters, based on levels of impulsivity and aggression, will differ in HPA axis dysregulation. We examined baseline cortisol, total cortisol output, and cortisol reactivity in mood disordered suicide attempters (N = 35) and non-attempters (N = 37) during the Trier Social Stress Test. Suicide attempters were divided into four subgroups: low aggression/low impulsivity, high aggression/low impulsivity, low aggression/high impulsivity, and high aggression/high impulsivity. As hypothesized, attempters and non-attempters did not differ in any cortisol measures while stress response differed based on impulsivity/aggression levels in suicide attempters, and when compared to non-attempters. Specifically, attempters with high impulsive aggression had a more pronounced cortisol response compared with other groups. This is the first study to examine the relationship between cortisol response and suicidal behavior in impulsive aggressive subgroups of attempters. These findings may help to identify a stress responsive suicidal subtype of individuals.
Topics: Adult; Aggression; Female; Humans; Hydrocortisone; Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System; Impulsive Behavior; Male; Pituitary-Adrenal System; Stress, Psychological; Suicidal Ideation; Suicide, Attempted; Young Adult
PubMed: 31376789
DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2019.112486 -
Research on Child and Adolescent... May 2022This study examined whether interactive Virtual Reality (VR) provides a more ecologically valid assessment of children's aggressive social information processing (SIP)...
This study examined whether interactive Virtual Reality (VR) provides a more ecologically valid assessment of children's aggressive social information processing (SIP) and aggressive responses than a standard vignette-based assessment. We developed a virtual classroom where children could meet and play games with virtual peers. Participants were boys (N = 184; ages 7-13) from regular education and special education for children with disruptive behavior problems. They reported on their SIP in four scenarios (i.e., two instrumental gain and two provocation scenarios) presented through both interactive VR and vignettes. Teachers reported on children's real-life aggressive behavior and reactive and proactive motives for aggression. Results demonstrated that children found the interactive VR assessment more emotionally engaging and immersive than the vignette-based assessment. Moreover, compared to vignettes, the interactive VR assessment evoked higher levels of aggressive SIP and responses in provocation scenarios only. Results supported the enhanced predictive validity of the interactive VR assessment of children's aggressive SIP and responses, which predicted children's real-life aggression above and beyond the vignette-based assessment with 2 to 12% additional explained variance. Similar results were found for children's real-life reactive and proactive motives for aggression, with 3 to 12% additional variance explained by interactive VR above and beyond vignettes. Interactive VR did not, however, evoke larger individual differences (i.e., variances) in children's aggressive SIP and responses than vignettes. Together, these findings suggest that interactive VR provides a more ecologically valid method to assess children's aggressive SIP and responses than hypothetical vignettes.
Topics: Adolescent; Aggression; Child; Cognition; Female; Humans; Male; Peer Group; Problem Behavior; Virtual Reality
PubMed: 34648102
DOI: 10.1007/s10802-021-00879-w -
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews Apr 2023Human aggression typologies largely correspond with those for other animals. While there may be no non-human equivalent of angry reactive aggression, we propose that... (Review)
Review
Non-angry aggressive arousal and angriffsberietschaft: A narrative review of the phenomenology and physiology of proactive/offensive aggression motivation and escalation in people and other animals.
Human aggression typologies largely correspond with those for other animals. While there may be no non-human equivalent of angry reactive aggression, we propose that human proactive aggression is similar to offense in other animals' dominance contests for territory or social status. Like predation/hunting, but unlike defense, offense and proactive aggression are positively reinforcing, involving dopamine release in accumbens. The drive these motivational states provide must suffice to overcome fear associated with initiating risky fights. We term the neural activity motivating proactive aggression "non-angry aggressive arousal", but use "angriffsberietschaft" for offense motivation in other animals to acknowledge possible differences. Temporal variation in angriffsberietschaft partitions fights into bouts; engendering reduced anti-predator vigilance, redirected aggression and motivational over-ride. Increased aggressive arousal drives threat-to-attack transitions, as in verbal-to-physical escalation and beyond that, into hyper-aggression. Proactive aggression and offense involve related neural activity states. Cingulate, insular and prefrontal cortices energize/modulate aggression through a subcortical core containing subnuclei for each aggression type. These proposals will deepen understanding of aggression across taxa, guiding prevention/intervention for human violence.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Motivation; Aggression; Anger; Social Behavior; Arousal
PubMed: 36822384
DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105110 -
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Oct 2022Awareness that high-status adolescents can be targets of aggression has grown in recent years. However, questions remain about the associations of the confluence of...
Awareness that high-status adolescents can be targets of aggression has grown in recent years. However, questions remain about the associations of the confluence of victimization and popularity with adjustment. The current study fills this gap by examining the joint and unique effects of victimization and popularity on aggression and alcohol use. Participants were 804 Dutch adolescents (50.2% boys, M = 13.65) who were followed for one year. High-status victims were more aggressive and drank more alcohol than lower-status victims. High-status victims were also more proactively and indirectly aggressive and self-reported more bullying than high-status non-victims. Thus, the findings demonstrated a conjoined risk of victimization and popularity for some types of aggression.
Topics: Adolescent; Aggression; Alcohol Drinking; Bullying; Crime Victims; Female; Humans; Male; Peer Group
PubMed: 35776230
DOI: 10.1007/s10964-022-01649-7 -
International Journal of Law and... 2022Despite the presence of theoretical frameworks explaining aggression, they still require refinement in the form of a specification of mechanisms that facilitate such...
OBJECTIVE
Despite the presence of theoretical frameworks explaining aggression, they still require refinement in the form of a specification of mechanisms that facilitate such behaviour.
METHOD
Study 1 recruited participants (N = 31) from the general population (N = 20) and from a forensic hospital (N = 11). It was expected that aggression supportive cognitions and stress would be positively associated with aggressive behaviour. An experimental paradigm was used to induce stress and participants were subsequently given the opportunity to aggress. Study 2 was based on self-report questionnaires in community sample (N = 462). It was expected that aggressive behaviour and traits would be associated with experienced stress, hostile attributions, coping styles, and attitudes to violence. Specifically, that criminal attitudes to violence will mediate the effect of hostile attribution on aggression, while coping styles will mediate the effect of perceived stress.
RESULTS
An Implicit Theory "I am the law" was found to be associated with aggression. Furthermore, elevated skin conductance, but not changes in the heart rate, during the stress task was positively associated with aggression, and only among patients. Structural Equation Model confirmed the mediating role of criminal attitudes to violence and of maladaptive coping style for aggressive behaviour.
CONCLUSION
Aggression-supportive cognitions and maladaptive coping style are specific mechanisms through which external demands or subjective perception of a situation can result in aggressive behaviour.
Topics: Humans; Aggression; Hostility; Cognition; Violence; Adaptation, Psychological
PubMed: 36351356
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijlp.2022.101842 -
Administration and Policy in Mental... May 2023Instances of violence and aggression in acute psychiatric settings are common and highly distressing for service users and staff. They also incur financial costs. This...
Instances of violence and aggression in acute psychiatric settings are common and highly distressing for service users and staff. They also incur financial costs. This study aimed to identify the proportion of service users at risk of consistent violence/aggression enactment. It also aimed to analyse associated service use to explore the potential need for specialised, targeted approaches. Five years' worth of data were extracted from 2016 to 2020 on inpatient stays across South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) acute adult wards and Psychiatric Intensive Care Units (PICUs). Service users were divided into cohorts based on relative number of violent/agressive incidents enacted. Differences in frequency of acute service use during the period 1 January-31 December 2020 were analysed. In total, 2524 service users had at least one inpatient stay during 2020. 679 were recorded as having enacted at least one incident of violence or aggression. Just 4% of all service users accounted for 50% of all violence/aggression enactment. Results further showed strong evidence of group differences between violence cohorts in the following domains: internal transfers, occupied bed days, admissions and Place of Safety (PoS) referrals. There was weaker evidence for group differences in referrals to Home Treatment teams (HTTs) and Psychiatric Liaison Teams. A small proportion of service users disproportionately account for the majority of violent and aggressive incidents and higher levels of violence and aggression are associated with more acute service use. The provision of targeted, personalised interventions for this cohort may reduce the enactment of violence and aggression, leading to improved quality life and a reduction in financial expenditure.
Topics: Adult; Humans; Inpatients; Violence; Aggression; Mental Health Services; Hospitalization; Mental Disorders
PubMed: 36918493
DOI: 10.1007/s10488-023-01251-4 -
ELife Apr 2020Although the cerebellum is traditionally associated with balance and motor function, it also plays wider roles in affective and cognitive behaviors. Evidence suggests...
Although the cerebellum is traditionally associated with balance and motor function, it also plays wider roles in affective and cognitive behaviors. Evidence suggests that the cerebellar vermis may regulate aggressive behavior, though the cerebellar circuits and patterns of activity that influence aggression remain unclear. We used optogenetic methods to bidirectionally modulate the activity of spatially-delineated cerebellar Purkinje cells to evaluate the impact on aggression in mice. Increasing Purkinje cell activity in the vermis significantly reduced the frequency of attacks in a resident-intruder assay. Reduced aggression was not a consequence of impaired motor function, because optogenetic stimulation did not alter motor performance. In complementary experiments, optogenetic inhibition of Purkinje cells in the vermis increased the frequency of attacks. These results suggest Purkinje cell activity in the cerebellar vermis regulates aggression, and further support the importance of the cerebellum in driving affective behaviors that could contribute to neurological disorders.
Topics: Aggression; Animals; Behavior, Animal; Cerebellar Vermis; Cerebellum; Mice; Optogenetics; Purkinje Cells
PubMed: 32343225
DOI: 10.7554/eLife.53229 -
Addictive Behaviors Jul 2016Research shows that heavier alcohol use is associated with physical aggression. Scant research has examined the way in which alcohol relates to other forms of...
Research shows that heavier alcohol use is associated with physical aggression. Scant research has examined the way in which alcohol relates to other forms of aggression, such as indirect aggression (e.g., malicious humor, social exclusion). Given the possible negative consequences of indirect aggression and the limited evidence suggesting alcohol use can elicit indirectly aggressive responses, research is needed to further investigate the association between drinking behavior and indirect aggression. Additionally, specific alcoholic beverages, such as caffeinated alcoholic beverages (CABs; e.g., Red Bull and vodka), may potentiate aggression above the influence of typical use, and thus warrant examination with regard to indirect aggression. One factor that may impact the strength of the alcohol-indirect aggression and CAB-indirect aggression relationships is one's level of self-regulation. Consequently, our study examined the relationships between (1) alcohol use and indirect aggression, (2) CAB use and indirect aggression, and (3) self-regulation as a moderator. Participants were 733 (67.6% female) undergraduate students who reported their CAB and alcohol use, self-regulation, and aggressive behaviors. Results revealed that heavier alcohol use was associated with more frequent indirect aggression after controlling for dispositional aggression. Heavier CAB use was related to more frequent indirect aggression after accounting for typical use and dispositional aggression. Self-regulation moderated these associations such that for those with lower self-regulation, greater alcohol and CAB consumption was associated with greater indirect aggression. Our findings suggest that heavier alcohol and CAB consumption may be risk factors for engaging in indirect aggression and this risk is impacted by one's regulatory control.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aggression; Alcohol Drinking; Alcohol Drinking in College; Alcoholic Beverages; Caffeine; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Self-Control; Students; Universities; Young Adult
PubMed: 26905765
DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2016.02.002