Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

THE NEUROBIOLOGY OF IMPULSIVE AGGRESSION

1997; Elsevier BV; Volume: 20; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s0193-953x(05)70319-1

1558-3147

Richard J. Kavoussi, Phyllis Armstead, Emil F. Coccaro,

Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior

Aggression is a significant problem in our society, with social, psychological, and financial impacts that may be impossible to assess fully. Data from the Epidemiological Catchment Area study44 suggest that 3.7% of the population commit one or more acts of violence each year, and the lifetime prevalence of aggressive behavior may be about 24%.5 The environmental and psychological roots of aggressive behavior have been studied for several centuries, yet it is only in the past 25 years that we have explored in a systematic fashion possible biologic vulnerabilities to this behavior. In this short time, much has been learned about the role of endocrine and neurotransmitter systems as inhibitors and facilitators of aggressive behavior. For example, many studies in both animals and human beings suggest that serotonin plays a significant inhibitory role with respect to aggressive behavior. Reduced central serotonergic functioning may be correlated with an increased tendency toward impulsive aggressive behavior. Other studies suggest that abnormalities in norepinephrine function play a role in the vulnerability to aggressive episodes. Evidence also points to the sex steroids and vasopressin as having a role in the modulation of aggressive behavior. Unfortunately, studies of biologic vulnerability to aggression are hampered by several factors. First, although biologic factors may play an important role in the development of these behaviors, overlooking the influence of environmental and learned factors in the genesis of aggression is impossible. Second, there are problems in defining aggression for purposes of investigating biologic predisposing factors. All human beings experience anger and may behave aggressively given enough provocation. In addition, aggressive behavior may have varying causes, for example, delusional thinking, cognitive impairment, depression, and so on. Finally, much of what we know concerning the neurobiology of aggression comes from animal study data, and extrapolating those results to human aggression may be difficult. Given these caveats, this article attempts to examine possible neurobiologic factors that may modulate impulsive aggression in human beings. We have chosen to discuss impulsive aggression rather than premeditated aggression because the former correlates more clearly with biologic indices of neurotransmitter function. The article concludes with a discussion of the clinical implications of these findings and makes recommendations for future research.