It is difficult to stop the vicious cycle of violence. Researchers
have addressed this issue by attempting to discover why stress-induced
anger causes people to lash out quickly and struggle with calming
down.
The answer may be found in the nervous system.
Through testing, scientists searched to uncover whether it was
the brain's aggression mechanism that led to high blood levels of
stress hormones, or if high blood levels of stress hormones triggered
the brain's aggression mechanism.
Because a rat's neurophysiology is similar to a human's, researchers
turned to experimenting on rats to find some answers. They discovered
that by raising one variable (stress hormones), the other variable
(brain-based aggression) was raised in response.
During Testing, Scientists:
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Conducted tests on a total of 53 rats in five experiments.
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Triggered an aggression-related part of the rats' mid-brain
area associated with emotion. During this stimulation, the rats
released the stress hormone called corticosterone, similar to
that of humans.
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Tested the reverse affect, by injecting corticosterone into
the rats, which facilitated stimulation-evoked attack behavior.
Through these experiments, scientists discovered that stress hormones
"talk back" to the brain to facilitate fighting. The study
also highlighted the possibility that even when stress hormones
are stimulated in no relation to fighting, violent behavior results.
These discoveries could explain why the stress of traffic jams
could lead to road rage.
The question -- "Can this feedback loop be connected with
human aggression?" -- continues to plague scientists. However,
additional research is required to find the answer. Discoveries
may lead to canceling out therapies intended to reduce violent behavior
and introducing a new way of regulating the release of stress hormones.
This suggested alternative would lower stress-precipitated violence
through medication methods.
Science
Daily October 5, 2004
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