Aggression is all in the mind – specifically, the hypothalamus – say researchers, who have discovered that the bad intentions typically preceding violence come from this area of the brain. They say their work points to a way of “controlling aggressive behaviors” without needing sedation.
Aggressive behaviors are most linked to dysfunction in the frontal lobes, which are responsible for executive function and complex social behavior (Anderson and Bushman, 2002; Forbes and Grafman, 2010).
Scientists have identified a specific region of the brain called the amygdala, as the part of the brain that processes fear, triggers anger, and motivates us to act. It alerts us to danger and activates the fight or flight response.
When an angry feeling coincides with aggressive or hostile behavior, it also activates the amygdala, an almond–shaped part of the brain associated with emotions, particularly fear, anxiety, and anger.
Anger is present as a key criterion in five diagnoses within DSM-5: Intermittent Explosive Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar Disorder.
The frontal lobe, for example, helps govern personality and impulsivity. If damaged, there might be no "braking mechanism" for self-control. A person may find he cannot control his anger or aggression. He may also make inappropriate comments to friends or strangers not realizing they are off color.
events in your past – people who experience traumatic, frightening or stressful events sometimes develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which can lead to angry outbursts. substances such as drugs and alcohol – which make some people act more aggressively than usual.
The limbic system controls the experience and expression of emotions, as well as some automatic functions of the body. By producing emotions (such as fear, anger, pleasure, and sadness), the limbic system enables people to behave in ways that help them communicate and survive physical and psychologic upsets.
The limbic system controls the experience and expression of emotions, as well as some automatic functions of the body. By producing emotions (such as fear, anger, pleasure, and sadness), the limbic system enables people to behave in ways that help them communicate and survive physical and psychologic upsets.
Amygdala is the integrative center for emotions, emotional behavior, and motivation. If the brain is turned upside down the end of the structure continuous with the hippocampus is called the uncus. If you peel away uncus you will expose the amygdala which abuts the anterior of the hippocampus.
The frontal lobes are considered our behaviour and emotional control centre and home to our personality. There is no other part of the brain where lesions can cause such a wide variety of symptoms.
The amygdala is responsible for the expression of fear and aggression as well as species-specific defensive behavior, and it plays a role in the formation and retrieval of emotional and fear-related memories.
Acquired amygdala damage reliably impairs fear conditioning, and behavioural, physiological and (in humans and perhaps other species, subjective) responses to threats [6–9].
The frontal lobe is primarily responsible for thinking, planning, memory, and judgment. The parietal lobe is primarily responsible for bodily sensations and touch. The temporal lobe is primarily responsible for hearing and language. The occipital lobe is primarily responsible for vision.
It regulates autonomic or endocrine function in response to emotional stimuli and also is involved in reinforcing behavior . The limbic system is composed of four main parts: the hypothalamus, the amygdala, the thalamus, and the hippocampus.
The brain receives information and internal and external influences that enable the most appropriate behaviors to be triggered at any time. In addition, our behavior has environmental consequences, which can be experienced as positive or negative for us.
The prefrontal cortex can guide behavior through projections that engage mechanisms of excitation and inhibition in other cortices and subcortical structures. Pathology of lateral prefrontal cortices, as seen in schizophrenia, disrupts the ability to focus on relevant stimuli and ignore distractors.
Keep your amygdala as healthy as possible by doing the following: Practicing stress-reduction techniques such as meditation, deep breathing, and exercising. Work through symptoms of PTSD, severe anxiety, or panic with a trained professional.
Damage to the amygdala can often be caused by stroke, traumatic brain injury, and other neurological conditions. Individuals with amygdala damage may experience various emotional and behavioral effects such as impaired decision-making, hypervigilance, or anxiety, just to name a few.
Oxytocin reduces amygdala activity, increases social interactions and reduces anxiety-like behavior irrespective of NMDAR antagonism - PMC.
It is possible that the rapid reduction in amygdala activity by antidepressant drugs is an important mechanism for subsequent clinical antidepressant effects.
The amygdala collects pathological proteins, and this fact can be considered to play a big role in the progression and diagnosis of many degenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, Lewy body diseases, and hippocampal sclerosis.
In conclusion, data are consistent with the hypothesis that for those who respond, SSRIs normalize amygdala reactivity during emotional processing of self-referential stimuli.