Abstract
Aggression may be defined as overt behavior with the intention of inflicting harm or the threat of harm upon another individual. Aggressive behaviors range from lethal to subtle, and typically arise whenever the interests of two or more individuals conflict. Species- and situation-specific rules exist to regulate aggression. Males, particularly males engaged in territorial or courtship activities, are more aggressive than females in most situations and in most species. The relationship between the testes and aggression has been known since antiquity and castration helps maintain docility among nonbreeding livestock. The long-held relationship between testosterone and aggression has some surprising twists, including the importance of estrogens and their receptors in the regulation of aggression. This chapter outlines what is known about the interactions among aggression and sex steroid hormones, peptides, hormone receptors, neurochemistry, and brain structures in mammals. The ontogeny of aggressive behavior and how hormones and experience shape the trajectory of adult sex differences in aggression is also examined here. Throughout the chapter, a comparison is made between the regulation of rodent animal models of aggression and human aggression with the goal of emphasizing where further research is needed to understand nonadaptive or pathological aggression.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Hormones, Brain and Behavior Online |
| Publisher | Elsevier Inc. |
| Pages | 167-205 |
| Number of pages | 39 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780080887838 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2010 |
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Keywords
- Activational-organizational hypothesis
- Aggression
- Agonistic
- Androgens
- Estradiol
- Estrogens
- Glucocorticoids
- Nitric oxide
- Ontogeny
- Peptides
- Psychopathology
- Serotonin
- Sex steroid receptors
- Sex steroids
- Testosterone
- Violence
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Neuroscience(all)
Cite this
Hormones and the development and expression of aggressive behavior. / Trainor, B. C.; Sisk, C. L.; Nelson, R. J.
Hormones, Brain and Behavior Online. Elsevier Inc., 2010. p. 167-205.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
}
TY - CHAP
T1 - Hormones and the development and expression of aggressive behavior
AU - Trainor, B. C.
AU - Sisk, C. L.
AU - Nelson, R. J.
PY - 2010
Y1 - 2010
N2 - Aggression may be defined as overt behavior with the intention of inflicting harm or the threat of harm upon another individual. Aggressive behaviors range from lethal to subtle, and typically arise whenever the interests of two or more individuals conflict. Species- and situation-specific rules exist to regulate aggression. Males, particularly males engaged in territorial or courtship activities, are more aggressive than females in most situations and in most species. The relationship between the testes and aggression has been known since antiquity and castration helps maintain docility among nonbreeding livestock. The long-held relationship between testosterone and aggression has some surprising twists, including the importance of estrogens and their receptors in the regulation of aggression. This chapter outlines what is known about the interactions among aggression and sex steroid hormones, peptides, hormone receptors, neurochemistry, and brain structures in mammals. The ontogeny of aggressive behavior and how hormones and experience shape the trajectory of adult sex differences in aggression is also examined here. Throughout the chapter, a comparison is made between the regulation of rodent animal models of aggression and human aggression with the goal of emphasizing where further research is needed to understand nonadaptive or pathological aggression.
AB - Aggression may be defined as overt behavior with the intention of inflicting harm or the threat of harm upon another individual. Aggressive behaviors range from lethal to subtle, and typically arise whenever the interests of two or more individuals conflict. Species- and situation-specific rules exist to regulate aggression. Males, particularly males engaged in territorial or courtship activities, are more aggressive than females in most situations and in most species. The relationship between the testes and aggression has been known since antiquity and castration helps maintain docility among nonbreeding livestock. The long-held relationship between testosterone and aggression has some surprising twists, including the importance of estrogens and their receptors in the regulation of aggression. This chapter outlines what is known about the interactions among aggression and sex steroid hormones, peptides, hormone receptors, neurochemistry, and brain structures in mammals. The ontogeny of aggressive behavior and how hormones and experience shape the trajectory of adult sex differences in aggression is also examined here. Throughout the chapter, a comparison is made between the regulation of rodent animal models of aggression and human aggression with the goal of emphasizing where further research is needed to understand nonadaptive or pathological aggression.
KW - Activational-organizational hypothesis
KW - Aggression
KW - Agonistic
KW - Androgens
KW - Estradiol
KW - Estrogens
KW - Glucocorticoids
KW - Nitric oxide
KW - Ontogeny
KW - Peptides
KW - Psychopathology
KW - Serotonin
KW - Sex steroid receptors
KW - Sex steroids
KW - Testosterone
KW - Violence
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84884767389&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84884767389&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/B978-008088783-8.00005-X
DO - 10.1016/B978-008088783-8.00005-X
M3 - Chapter
SN - 9780080887838
SP - 167
EP - 205
BT - Hormones, Brain and Behavior Online
PB - Elsevier Inc.
ER -