Neurobiological Factors

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It is noted that reactive aggression could be triggered by a frustrating or threatening event given that one of our neural systems has been studied to be responsible for executing the basic responses to threat[1] This system encompasses and follows from the amygdala to the hypothalamus and finally to the periaqueductal gray matter (PAG)[2]In greater detail, research suggests that when one is threatened or frustrated by some stimuli, parts of our frontal cortex, that is our orbital, medial and ventrolateral frontal cortex is activated which works in tandem with our threat response system: amygdala-hypothalamus-PAG[3]. To simply, when referring to reactive aggression as seen in animals, their responses range in a hierarchy depending on the intensity of the stimuli or frustrating event at hand. For eexample, when low levels of danger are perceived, the threat responses system induces freezing in the animal, closer subjects of threat, the response system induces the act of fleeing from their surroundings and finally where the source of the threat is so close that escape is no longer an option, the threat circuitry system will induce reactive aggression in the animal[4]. What this means is that the closer a frustrating stimulus is presented to us, the greater the chances our basic response systems will be activated and thus will give rise to certain behaviours within ourselves. Furthermore, some research has shown that "individuals with elevated susceptibility for frustration [showed] greater activity within these regions [of the brain] in response to frustrating events relative to those with less susceptibility"[5]. What this research suggests is that people who get frustrated more easily than others protray greater activity in the frontal cortex in connection with out amygdala-hypothalamus-PAG, the system that makes us act aggressively with reference to the studies at hand.

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  1. ^ Leonard, Berkowitz (1974). "Some determinants of impulsive aggression: Role of mediated associations with reinforcemens fro aggression". Psychological Review. 81: 165–176 – via JSTOR.
  2. ^ Blair, R.J (2010). "Psychopathy, frustration, and reactive aggresion: The role of ventromedial prefrontal cortex". British Journal of pSychology. 101: 383–399 – via Wiley Online Library.
  3. ^ Gregg, T.R. (2001). "Britain structures and neurotransmitters regulating aggression in cats: Implications for human aggression". Progress in Neuro-psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry. 25: 91–140.
  4. ^ Blanchard, R.J; Blanchard, D.C; Takahashi,L.K (1977). "Attack and defensive behaviour in the albino rat". Animal Behaviour. 25: 197–224.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Siegrist, J; Menrath, I; Stocker, T; Klein, M; Kellermann, T; Shah, N.J; et al. (2005). "Differential brain activation according to social reward frustration". Neuroreport. 16: 1899–1903. {{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |last= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)