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Journal Article

Citation

Siegel A, Shaikh MB. Aggress. Violent Behav. 1997; 2(3): 241-271.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1997, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper considers some of the basic findings underlying the neural bases of aggression and rage in the cat. The two basic models considered in this paper include predatory attack behavior and defensive rage. Anatomical studies point to the importance of the perifornical lateral hypothalamus for predatory attack and the medial hypothalamus and dorsal half of the midbrain periaqueductal gray for defensive rage as critical regions for the integration and expression of these two forms of aggressive behavior. Other experiments point to the important role of limbic structures in modulating each of these responses. The modulating properties of limbic structures provide a basic for understanding how dysfunctions of the temporal lobe can result in marked changes in aggressivity in humans. To date, studies combining brain stimulation, neuroanatomical, and neurochemical procedures have begun to identify the likely neurotransmitters that are associated with the key pathway from the medial hypothalamus to the periaqueductal gray over which defensive rage behavior is mediated, as well as the efferent pathways of the amygdala which modulate this form of aggression. Excitatory amino acids that act upon NMDA receptors have been implicated as the neurotransmitter associated with the descending pathway from the medial hypothalamus to the periaqueductal gray. Regions of the amygdala that facilitate defensive rage include the basal complex, which projects to the periaqueductal gray and utilizes excitatory amino acids as a neurotransmitter, and the medial nucleus, which projects to the medial hypothalamus and utilizes substance P as a neurotransmitter. In contrast, an enkephalinergic pathway that arises from the central nucleus of amygdala and which projects to the periaqueductal gray has been shown to powerfully inhibit defensive rage behavior.

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