Abstract
Aggressive behavior is not a unitary trait, and different stimuli/situations elicit different kinds of aggressive behavior. According to numerous data the genotype plays a significant role in the expression of aggressive behavior. However, it remains unclear how genetic predisposition to one kind of aggression is linked with other kinds of aggressive behavior, especially pathological aggression (infanticide). Here, we report on our investigation of the expression of defensive, offensive, predatory and asocial aggression in wild rats selectively bred for 85 generations for either a high level or a lack of aggression towards humans. We found that those rats genetically predisposed to a high level of defensive aggression showed decreased social behavior and increased pathological aggressive behavior towards juvenile males. The highly aggressive rates showed a reduced latency time of attack and an increased latency time of the first social contact. Rats genetically predisposed to defensive aggression demonstrated increased predatory aggression—latency time of muricide was shorter in highly aggressive than in tame animals. At the same time, both lines of rats did not differ significantly in intermale aggression. We conclude that the data indicate a close relation between defensive, predatory and pathological aggressive behavior that allows us to suggest that similar genetic mechanisms underlie these types of aggressive behavior.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Albert DJ, Walsh ML, Jonik RH (1993) Aggression in humans: what is its biological foundation? Neurosci Biobehav Rev 17:405–425
Albert FW, Shchepina O, Winter C, Rompler H, Teupser D, Palme R, Ceglarek U, Kratzsch J, Sohr R, Trut LN, Thiery J, Morgenstern R, Plyusnina IZ, Schoneberg T, Paabo S (2008) Phenotypic differences in behavior, physiology and neurochemistry between rats selected for tameness and for defensive aggression towards humans. Horm Behav 53:413–421
Belyaev DK (1979) Destabilizing selection as a factor in domestication. J Hered 70:301–308
Blanchard DC, Herbert M, Blanchard RJ (1999) Continuity versus (political) correctness: Animal models and human aggression. In: Haug M, Whalen RE (eds) Animal models of human emotion and cognition, vol 3. American Psychological Association, Washington D.C., pp 297–316
da Veiga CP, Miczek KA, Lucion AB, de Almeida RM (2011) Social instigation and aggression in postpartum female rats: role of 5-Ht1A and 5-Ht1B receptors in the dorsal raphe nucleus and prefrontal cortex. Psychopharmacology 213:475–487
de Almeida RM, Giovenardi M, da Silva SP, de Oliveira VP, Stein DJ (2006) The effect of 5-HT(2a/2c) receptor agonist microinjected into central amygdaloid nucleus and median preoptic area on maternal aggressive behavior in rats. Rev Bras Psiquiatr 28:130–134
de Boer SF, van der Vegt BJ, Koolhaas JM (2003) Individual variation in aggression of feral rodent strains: a standard for the genetics of aggression and violence? Behav Genet 33:485–501
Foster EM, Jones D (2006) Can a costly intervention be cost-effective?: an analysis of violence prevention. Arch Gen Psychiatry 63:1284–1291
Ilchibaeva TV, Tsybko AS, Kozhemyakina RV, Naumenko VS (2016) Expression of Apoptosis Genes in the Brain of Rats with Genetically Defined Fear-Induced Aggression. Mol Biol (Mosk) 50:719–724
Kazdin AE, Whitley M, Marciano PL (2006) Child-therapist and parent-therapist alliance and therapeutic change in the treatment of children referred for oppositional, aggressive, and antisocial behavior. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 47:436–445
Konoshenko MY, Plyusnina IZ (2012) Behavioral effects of bidirectional selection for behavior towards human in virgin and lactate Norway rats. Behav Processes 90:180–188
Kozhemyakina RV, Konoshenko MY, Sakharov DG, Smagin DA, Markel AL (2016) Comparative analysis of behavior in the open-field test in wild grey rats (Rattus norvegicus) and in grey rats subjected to prolonged selection for tame and aggressive behavior. Zh Vyssh Nerv Deiat Im I P Pavlova 66:92–102
Kulikov AV, Popova NK (1996) Association between intermale aggression and genetically defined tryptophan hydroxylase activity in the mouse brain. Aggressive Behavior 22:111–117
Kulikov AV, Osipova DV, Naumenko VS, Popova NK (2005) Association between Tph2 gene polymorphism, brain tryptophan hydroxylase activity and aggressiveness in mouse strains. Genes Brain Behav 4:482–485
Malik AI, Zai CC, Abu Z, Nowrouzi B, Beitchman JH (2012) The role of oxytocin and oxytocin receptor gene variants in childhood-onset aggression. Genes Brain Behav 11:545–551
Maxson AC (1999) Aggression: concepts and methods relevant to genetic analyses in mice and humans. In: Jones BC, Mormede P (eds) Neurobehavioral genetics. Methods and applications, vol. 396. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 293–300
Miczek KA, Donat P (1989) Brain 5-HT system and inhibition of aggressive behaviour. In: Bevan P, Cools AR, Archer T (eds) Behavioral Pharmacology of 5-HT. Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc, Hillsdale, pp 117–144
Moyer KB (1968) Kinds of aggression and their physiological basis. Commun Behav Biol 2:65–87
Naumenko EV, Popova NK, Nikulina EM, Dygalo NN, Shishkina GT, Borodin PM, Markel AL (1989) Behavior, adrenocortical activity, and brain monoamines in Norway rats selected for reduced aggressiveness towards man. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 33:85–91
Naumenko VS, Kozhemjakina RV, Plyusnina IZ, Popova NK (2009) Expression of serotonin transporter gene and startle response in rats with genetically determined fear-induced aggression. Bull Exp Biol Med 147:81–83
Naumenko VS, Kozhemyakina RV, Plyusnina IF, Kulikov AV, Popova NK (2013) Serotonin 5-HT1A receptor in infancy-onset aggression: comparison with genetically defined aggression in adult rats. Behav Brain Res 243:97–101
Naumenko VS, Kondaurova EM, Bazovkina DV, Tsybko AS, Il’chibaeva TV, Popova NK (2014) On the role of 5-HT(1A) receptor gene in behavioral effect of brain-derived neurotrophic factor. J Neurosci Res 92:1035–1043
Nikulina EM, Popova NK (1988) Predatory aggression in the mink (Mustela vison): roles of serotonin and food satiation. Aggressive Behavior 14:77–84
Plyusnina I, Oskina I (1997) Behavioral and adrenocortical responses to open-field test in rats selected for reduced aggressiveness toward humans. Physiol Behav 61:381–385
Plyusnina IZ, Trut LN, Karpushkeeva NI, Alekhina TA, Os’kina IN (2003) Behavioral and physiological characteristics of nonagouti mutation in gray rats during selection for aggressiveness. Zh Vyssh Nerv Deiat Im I P Pavlova 53:730–738
Plyusnina IZ, Oskina IN, Tibeikina MA, Popova NK (2009) Cross-fostering effects on weight, exploratory activity, acoustic startle reflex and corticosterone stress response in Norway gray rats selected for elimination and for enhancement of aggressiveness towards human. Behav Genet 39:202–212
Plyusnina IZ, Solov’eva MY, Oskina IN (2011) Effect of domestication on aggression in gray Norway rats. Behav Genet 41(4):583–592
Popova NK, Nikulina EM, Kulikov AV (1993) Genetic analysis of different kinds of aggressive behavior. Behav Genet 23:491–497
Popova NK, Avgustinovich DF, Kolpakov VG, Plyusnina IZ (1998) Specific [3H]8-OH-DPAT binding in brain regions of rats genetically predisposed to various defense behavior strategies. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 59:793–797
Popova NK, Naumenko VS, Plyusnina IZ, Kulikov AV (2005) Reduction in 5-HT1A receptor density, 5-HT1A mRNA expression, and functional correlates for 5-HT1A receptors in genetically defined aggressive rats. J Neurosci Res 80:286–292
Poshivalov VP (1978) Ethological atlas for pharmacological studies on laboratory rodents. All-Russian Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (VINITI), Moscow, vol. 3164-78
Prasolova LA, Gerbek YuE, Gulevich RG, Schikhevich SG, Konoshenko MYu, Kozhemyakina RV, Oskina IN, Plyusnina IZ (2014) The effect of prolonged selection for behavior on the stress response and activity of the reproductive system of male grey rats (Rattus norvegicus). Russian J Genet 50:846–852
Thor DH, Flannelly KJ (1976) Age of intruder and territorial-elicited aggression in male long-evans rats. Behav Biol 17(2):237–241
Vishnivetskaya GB, Skrinskaya JA, Seif I, Popova NK (2007) Effect of MAO A deficiency on different kinds of aggression and social investigation in mice. Aggress Behav 33:1–6
Acknowledgments
The study was supported by the Russian Scientific Foundation Grant No. 14-25-00038.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
About this article
Cite this article
Ilchibaeva, T.V., Tsybko, A.S., Kozhemyakina, R.V. et al. The relationship between different types of genetically defined aggressive behavior. J Ethol 35, 75–81 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-016-0493-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-016-0493-5