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Animal Models of Aggression

The Role of Sex and Social Experience

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Handbook of Anger, Aggression, and Violence

Abstract

Rodent models have been extensively used to study the neural underpinnings of aggression. Yet, the role of some external factors such as social experiences, or internal factors such as biological sex, have only recently gained attention. This chapter discusses how the composition of the social environment and/or the lack of social contact (social isolation) in different stages of development impact the display of aggressive behavior in rodents. Additionally, this chapter covers how biological sex interacts with changes in the composition of the social environment to affect the neuronal networks of aggression. From a neurobiological point of view, this chapter focuses particularly on the participation of neuroendocrine systems such as sex hormones, oxytocin, and vasopressin and on how social interactions shape brain plasticity within those systems.

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Abbreviations

AH:

Anterior hypothalamus

AVP:

Vasopressin

BDNF:

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor

BLA:

Basolateral amygdala

BNST:

Bed nucleus of stria terminalis

CCKA:

Cholecystokinin receptor A

CeA:

Central amygdala

CSF:

Cerebrospinal fluid

DG:

Dentate gyrus

dLS:

Dorsal lateral septum

DMH:

Dorsomedial hypothalamus

DR1:

Dopamine receptor 1

DR2:

Dopamine receptor 2

EPCs:

Excitatory postsynaptic currents

Erα:

Estrogen receptor alpha

FMRP:

Fragile X mental retardation protein

GH:

Group-housed

HAA:

Hypothalamic attack area (mediobasal hypothalamus)

IL:

Infralimbic cortex

IST:

Isolated and trained

LH:

Lateral hypothalamus

LS:

Lateral septum

LTD:

Long-term depression

LTP:

Long-term potentiation

MeA:

Medial amygdala

MeApv:

Medial amygdala posteroventral

mGluR5:

Metabotropic glutamate receptor 5

MPOA:

Medial preoptic area

Nacc:

Nucleus accumbens

NK3R:

Neuorkinin receptor 3

NKB:

Neurokinin B

nNOS:

Neuronal nitric oxide synthase

NO:

Nitric oxide

NPY2:

Neuropeptide Y receptor 2

OF:

Orbitofrontal cortex

OXT:

Oxytocin

OXTR:

Oxytocin receptor

PAG:

Periaqueductal gray matter

PFC:

Prefrontal cortex

PR:

Progesterone receptor

PrL:

Prelimbic cortex

PVN:

Paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus

PWSI:

Postweaning social isolation

RIT:

Resident Intruder Test

SI:

Social Isolation

SON:

Supraoptic nucleus of the hypothalamus

TAC2:

Tachykinin 2

V1aR:

Vasopressin 1a receptor

vLS:

Ventral lateral septum

VMHvl:

Ventrolateral ventromedial hypothalamus

VTA:

Ventral tegmental area

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique -FNRS CR 40011133 AGGRESSIONKiNG project and by the Fondation Léon Fredericq Bourse de fonctionnement Post-Doctorant (Neuromodulation of aggression by kisspeptin, neurokinin B, and GnRH).

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Correspondence to Vinícius Elias de Moura Oliveira .

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Oliveira, V.E.d.M. (2023). Animal Models of Aggression. In: Martin, C.R., Preedy, V.R., Patel, V.B. (eds) Handbook of Anger, Aggression, and Violence. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31547-3_144

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