Behavioral Neuroscience of Aggression

For the class Mammalia, many types of aggression serve vital roles in the survival of a species. Here we present how an early focus on monocausal frameworks based on single brain areas or neurotransmitter systems has only recently matured into an understanding of how environmentally vulnerable neurogenetic networks with molecular constituents apply to aggressive behaviors. These dynamic aggression networks are clearly not as “hardwired” as once considered to be as plasticity can be observed even at the most ancient phylogenetic levels in brain. The malleable nature of aggression circuits provides promise for curtailing patterns of modern violence through the collective efforts and future directions of basic neuroscience, the criminal justice system, educators, clinicians and psychiatry.