Neural Explanations Of Aggression Flashcards Preview

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Flashcards in Neural Explanations Of Aggression Deck (28)
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1
Q

Where is the amygdala located in the brain?

A

Temporal lobe

2
Q

Lesioning monkey’s amygdala led to what?

A

Reduction in the fear response and an increase in aggression

3
Q

What are the effects of an amygdalectomy in humans?

A

Reduced aggression and implications for emotional responses

4
Q

How does the amygdala regulating emotion link to aggression?

A

Aggression may be motivated by abnormal emotional patterns

5
Q

What does the prefrontal cortex influence?

A

Impulsivity

6
Q

Individuals with damage to their prefrontal cortex show…

A

Impulsive behaviour, immaturity, altered emotion, short tempers and easily provoked which can lead to aggression

7
Q

Which neurotransmitters are associated with aggression?

A

Serotonin and dopamine

8
Q

How is serotonin thought to have a calming effect?

A

It calms down firing of the neurons and therefore brain activity

9
Q

How is serotonin linked to aggression?

A

Low levels (particularly in PFC) cause impulsive and aggressive behaviour

10
Q

What is dopamine produced in response too?

A

Rewarding behaviours eg eating and sex

11
Q

How is dopamine linked to aggression?

A

Seek out aggressive behaviours because of the rewarding sensations caused by a release of dopamine

12
Q

Who performed research into neural explanations of aggression?

A

Raine et al, tateno et al, zagrodzka et al

13
Q

What kind of brain scan did raine use on his participants?

A

PET scans

14
Q

What are the 2 brain structure associated with aggression?

A

Amygdala and prefrontal cortex

15
Q

What was the ratio of males to females in Raine et al’s research?

A

39 males, 2 females

16
Q

What did all of the participants in Raine et al’s research have in common?

A

All pleading not guilty for reasons of insanity (NGRI) and all had low activity in their prefrontal cortex and amygdala

17
Q

How many participants did tateno use with traumatic brain injury?

A

89 males

18
Q

How did tateno measure aggression?

A

Family interviews, police records and accounts of friends

19
Q

What % of the brain damaged group were classified ad aggressive

A

34%

20
Q

What did brain scans of the participants in tateno’s research find?

A

Those classified as aggressive were more likely to have frontal lobe damage

21
Q

What did zagrodzka do?

A

Damaged the central nucleus of the amygdala of cats

22
Q

What did zagrodzka find?

A

Damage to the amygdala was a contributing factor to predator like attacks

23
Q

What are the evaluation points of the neural explanations of aggression?

A

Too simplistic, supporting research for role of PFC, deterministic, animal research and practical applications

24
Q

What are the practical applications of the neural explanations?

A

Treat chronically violent schizophrenic patients

25
Q

Which research did research into the practical applications of neural explanation?

A

Vartiainen et al

26
Q

What did vartiainen et al do?

A

Did a double blind trial using citalopram (SSRI) to treat chronically violent schizophrenic

27
Q

What did vartiainen et al find?

A

Found citalopram (SSRI) reduced the frequency of aggressive incidents in chronically violent schizophrenics

28
Q

What an opposing point against the practical applications of neural explanation?

A

Serotonin drugs are very complex as an increase in serotonin can effect appetite, digestion, sleep and memory