Serotonin and Aggression

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Fight Club: Specific Types of Serotonin Neurons Modulate Aggression

http://neurosciencenews.com/aggression-serotonin-neuromodulation-5530/

It was thought that dopamine increases aggression while serotonin decreases it but the researchers are figuring out that dopamine and serotonin both "talk to each other" and play roles in aggression. This study was done strictly on mice but researcher Dymecki believes the findings can be true for humans as well. Lower serotonin levels has been linked with pathological aggression in people and treatment for this may also cause other irregular behaviors. Behaviors such as breathing rate, mood, sex drive, and appetite. Dymecki had a thought that if she could narrow down the neurons that influenced aggression then treatments could be more directed towards the source without having other irregular behaviors. By silencing sub-types they found two that significantly changed aggression which were Drd1a/Pet1 and Drd2/Pet1. These two are special because dopamine receptors (the Dr found at the beginning of the name) are found on their surfaces.  Within further study it was found that Drd1a/Pet1 cells are expressed before and after birth where Drd2/Pet1 is expressed during adolescence.

These findings, if proven in humans to be positive then it can help treatments within people such as aggressive schizophrenia patients. I found this article interesting with the information and would be curious to see if it were the same with humans or what aspects would be different. Findings such as this research can help significantly within the field of psychology. Often treatments help what is intended to help but also gains other sometimes, negative reactions. This research is related to physio-psychology and our class by studying serotonin and dopamine levels.

Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 27, 2016 at 11:36 AM

    Serotonin is a mood regulator and can lead to depression when it is low. The possible serotonin decrease that leads to aggression could also play a role in depression developments as well. The two moods interplay a lot because depression can turn into anger and vice versa. If these neurotransimitters are chafed during adolescence, it could explain the mood swings boys and girls get when developing.

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  2. UnknownNovember 27, 2016 at 12:21 PM

    I wonder if they have done any research on low serotonin levels and aggression in people without psychological disorders. For example, students who have high aggression in school might also have lower serotonin levels.

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  3. LaurenHoffmanTUNovember 28, 2016 at 9:37 PM

    This is actually very interesting because when i interned at an addiction treatment center many of the clients would say that after using drugs that released dopamine and or serotonin they would feel aggression as their main emotion during the come down.

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