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Neurogenetics of Aggressive Behavior: Studies in Rodents

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Book cover Neuroscience of Aggression

Part of the book series: Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences ((CTBN,volume 17))

Abstract

Aggressive behavior is observed in many animal species, such as insects, fish, lizards, frogs, and most mammals including humans. This wide range of conservation underscores the importance of aggressive behavior in the animals’ survival and fitness, and the likely heritability of this behavior. Although typical patterns of aggressive behavior differ between species, there are several concordances in the neurobiology of aggression among rodents, primates, and humans. Studies with rodent models may eventually help us to understand the neurogenetic architecture of aggression in humans. However, it is important to recognize the difference between the ecological and ethological significance of aggressive behavior (species-typical aggression) and maladaptive violence (escalated aggression) when applying the findings of aggression research using animal models to human or veterinary medicine. Well-studied rodent models for aggressive behavior in the laboratory setting include the mouse (Mus musculus), rat (Rattus norvegicus), hamster (Mesocricetus auratus), and prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster). The neural circuits of rodent aggression have been gradually elucidated by several techniques, e.g., immunohistochemistry of immediate-early gene (c-Fos) expression, intracranial drug microinjection, in vivo microdialysis, and optogenetics techniques. Also, evidence accumulated from the analysis of gene-knockout mice shows the involvement of several genes in aggression. Here, we review the brain circuits that have been implicated in aggression, such as the hypothalamus, prefrontal cortex (PFC), dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN), nucleus accumbens (NAc), and olfactory system. We then discuss the roles of glutamate and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), excitatory and inhibitory amino acids in the brain, as well as their receptors, in controlling aggressive behavior, focusing mainly on recent findings. At the end of this chapter, we discuss how genes can be identified that underlie individual differences in aggression, using the so-called forward genetics approach.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mouse Genomics Resource Laboratory, National Institute of Genetics, (NIG), 1111 Yata, Mishima, Shizuoka, 411-8540, Japan

    Aki Takahashi

  2. Departments of Psychology, Psychiatry, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Tufts University, Medford and Boston, MA, USA

    Klaus A. Miczek

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  1. Aki Takahashi
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  2. Klaus A. Miczek
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Correspondence to Aki Takahashi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Moses Hunt Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry, Pharmacol & Neurosci, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, USA

    Klaus A. Miczek

  2. Dept of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany

    Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg

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Takahashi, A., Miczek, K.A. (2013). Neurogenetics of Aggressive Behavior: Studies in Rodents. In: Miczek, K., Meyer-Lindenberg, A. (eds) Neuroscience of Aggression. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences, vol 17. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/7854_2013_263

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