Serotonergic inhibitory control of experimental aggression

The present review sets out to offer an alternative standpoint on this general problem of finding suitable correlates between endogenous chemicals and behavioral patterns, with special regard to the inhibitory control of aggressive behavior.

Abstract

Since the early identification of putative neurochemical transmitters in the brain, attempts to detect suitable correlates between these endogenous chemicals and behavioral patterns have been almost numberless. Success, however, still seems remote, especially in view of the increasingly large number of endogenous molecules which are at present believed to act as neurotransmitters in the brain. Another obstacle, is the only apparent simplicity of many behavioral items, which makes it difficult reliably to identify their neurophysiological correlates. Based on these premises, the present review sets out to offer an alternative standpoint on this general problem, with special regard to the inhibitory control of aggressive behavior.