Neural and hormonal mechanisms in aggression

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  • Created by: millie
  • Created on: 06-06-15 19:35
What are the two neural mechanisms in aggression?
Serotonin and dopamine
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What is the relationship between serotonin and aggression?
Thought that the less serotonin someone has in their brain,the more aggressive they are as serotonin reduces responses to emotional stimuli so this could include aggressive responses
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What have the use of drugs that reduce serotonin shown?
These drugs have been found to increases individual's aggression
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What did Mann et al. find in relation to drugs that decrease serotonin?
35 pps. given drug Dexfenfluramine that depletes serotonin and later did questionnaire on hostility& aggression,found treatment in males,not females,caused increased hostility & aggression score, suggesting serotonin linked to aggression
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What is the less well-established relationship between dopamine and aggression?
High levels of dopamine cause aggression
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Whose study shows the link between dopamine and aggression in relation to amphetamines?
Lavine (1997)
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What did Lavine find?
Amphetamine use, which increases dopamine activity, increased aggression as well
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What did Buitelaar (2203) find in relation to antipsychotics, dopamine and aggression?
Antipsychotics that reduce the amount of dopamine in the brain are associated with a reduction in aggression suggesting a link between dopamine and aggression
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What did Raleigh et al (1991) do in his study of serotonin and aggression?
Fed vervet monkeys diets high in tryptophan which is increases serotonin and fed other vervet monkeys given diets in low tryptophan thus decreasing serotonin
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What were Raleigh et al.'s findings in their study of serotonin and aggression?
Monkeys on high tryptophan diet displayed less aggression than monkeys on low tryptophan diet who displayed high aggression showing serotonin levels affected monkeys aggression
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What did Popova find that supports the link between serotonin and aggression?
Domesticated animals, who were docile and less aggressive, had high levels of serotonin suggesting high levels of serotonin reduced aggression
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What is a weakness of the theory that dopamine is associated with aggression?
Cause and effect - not established whether high levels of dopamine cause aggression or whether aggression causes high levels of dopamine. This questions whether dopamine is actually a neural mechanism of aggression
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What evidence is there to suggest dopamine affects aggression in a different way? (showing perhaps a weakness of theory)
Mouse study in 2008 - dopamine was actually released in mice after aggressive behaviour suggesting that neurotransmitter is being released as positive reinforcer for aggression meaning individuals may actually seek aggressive encounters
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What are the two hormonal mechanisms of aggression?
Testosterone and cortisol
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What is the relationship between testosterone and aggression?
It is thought that higher levels of the male sex hormone, testosterone, causes aggression
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How did Dabbs et al. look into the link between testosterone and aggression and what did he find?
Looked at testosterone levels in the saliva of criminals. It was found that violent criminals had higher levels of testosterone than non-violent criminals
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What did Lindman et al. find in relation to testosterone and aggression?
Young males who were aggressive when drunk had higher levels of testosterone is their bodies than those who were not aggressive when drunk
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What is the relationship between cortisol and aggression?
Cortisol inhibits testosterone therefore the less cortisol there is in their body, the more aggressive they are likely to be.
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What did Virrkunen (1985) find in relation to cortisol and aggression?
There were low cortisol levels in habitual violent offenders
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What did Tennes and Kreye find in relation to cortisol and aggression?
Habitual violent school children had lower levels of cortisol
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What did Albert et al. say is a weakness of the theory that testosterone is a mechanism of aggression?
Inconsistent evidence-pointed out although many studies show correlation between testosterone & aggression, not all do. Especially the case for studies looking at diff. between aggressive and less aggressive individual
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Continuing Albert et al.'s explanation of weakness in testosterone-aggression theory...
Better to look at diff. between aggressive & non-aggressive individuals. Tells us evidence is not strong as psychologists are unspecific about criteria & grouping for aggression, shows lack of consistency
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What is an issue with the studies of testosterone being a mechanism of aggression?
Gender Bias-as testosterone is male sex hormone,vast majority of studies use male pps. rather than females.However psychologists studying effect of testosterone in females found testosterone has higher association with aggression in females than male
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What is another weakness of the explanation of testosterone being a mechanism of aggression?
Not known whether hormone affects aggression or dominance (most studies believe it's aggression they are finding). Mazur said aggression is inflicting injury,dominance is having status over another.
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Continuation of weakness in testosterone being mechanism of aggression...
Testosterone may differently/subtley affect dominance. Could mean some studies on aggression may have actually seen signs of seeking dominance but regarded it as aggression showing lack in reliability
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Card 2

Front

What is the relationship between serotonin and aggression?

Back

Thought that the less serotonin someone has in their brain,the more aggressive they are as serotonin reduces responses to emotional stimuli so this could include aggressive responses

Card 3

Front

What have the use of drugs that reduce serotonin shown?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

What did Mann et al. find in relation to drugs that decrease serotonin?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

What is the less well-established relationship between dopamine and aggression?

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