Aggressive behaviors

The best evidence for a lack of specificity comes from studies that have been performed on the effect of lithium on aggressive behavior. Weischet studied the effect of putting lithium into the water 

Panter is strongly in favor of lithium having an antiaggressive action. The details of these studies have been reviewed by Sheard and Marini.  

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The molten carbonate fuel ceU uses eutectic blends of Hthium and potassium carbonates as the electrolyte. A special grade of Hthium carbonate is used in treatment of affective mental (mood) disorders, including clinical depression and bipolar disorders. Lithium has also been evaluated in treatment of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorders, alcoholism, and periodic aggressive behavior (56). 

Reasons for discharge from maintenance include persistent opioid or other substance use, sporadic attendance, and aggressive behavior at the chnic. Although such patients undermine the purpose of treatment and the treatment milieu, it is often difficult to discharge them because clinicians generally believe that they would likely do worse without treatment. 

Kouri EM, Pope HG Jr, Lukas SE Changes in aggressive behavior during withdrawal from long-term marijuana use. Psychopharmacology 143 302-308, 1999... 

Trimethoxyamphetamine (TMA) causes perceptual distortions, LSD-like synesthesias, and dissociative states. At high doses, it may produce unprovoked anger, aggressive behavior, and homicidal violence (Shulgin 1978). 

Case reports and survey data provide a complex account of the link between amphetamines and aggressive behavior, leading to sharply differing... 

Reductions in aggressive behavior after treatment with amphetamine and other psyehomotor stimulants are seen in children and adolescents who have been diagnosed with hyperkinesis or attention deficit disorder. There is considerable disagreement about these diagnostic categories and about whether the violent outbursts and uncontrolled episodes of aggressive behavior are limited to the early developmental period or continue into adulthood (Mendelson et al. 1971 Minde et al. 1972). 

The early report by Bradley (1937) on beneficial treatment effects with amphetamine in aggressive, destructive, irritable, and hyperactive boys was repeatedly eonfirmed by double-blind, placebo-controlled studies. Significant reductions in aggressive behavior and improvements in social interactions were found after treatment with 10 to 40 mg/day of d- or /-amphetamine for boys and girls, 5 to 14 years of age, who had been diagnosed as... 

Sequences of aggressive behavior that are composed of characteristic acts and postures following each other rapidly are disrupted. These disorganizing effects parallel the analysis of amphetamine effects on other intricately patterned behaviors such as feeding, maternal care, play behavior, or reproductive interactions. For example, amphetamine suppresses play... 

Dose-dependent biphasic effeets on aggressive behavior may be seen in several, but not all animal speeies and situations (Miczek and Krsiak 1979 ... 

Ongoing experiments with methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) show a systematic dose-dependent decrease in attack and threat behavior in mice confronting an intruder into their homecage (Miczek et al., unpublished observations). The decrement in aggressive behavior appears to be behaviorally specific it is obtained at MDMA doses (0.3, 1, 3 mg/kg) that are lower than those necessary to decrease measures of conditioned performance under the control of schedules of positive reinforcement. Because of species-dependent neurotoxicity, MDMA s effects on aggressive behavior need to be explored in other species, including primates. 

The dramatic heightening of aggressive behavior in morphine-withdrawn animals may be due to dopamine receptor upregulation (Gianutsos et al. 1975 Lai et al. 1975). Morphine and methadone inhibit dopamine receptors in the central nervous system (CNS) suggesting possible disuse... 

ANTAGONISM OF AMPHETAMINE EFFECTS ON SOCIAL AND AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR... 

The most consistent and potent antagonism of amphetamine effects on increased motor activity and stereotyped movements is obtained with antagonists at dopamine receptors of the D2 subtype (Creese et al. 1982). This is not the case with amphetamine s disruptive effects on social and aggressive behavior. So far, no antagonists have been identified that reverse amphetamine s disruption of sexual, play, maternal, or aggressive behavior. 

These observations suggest differential mechanisms for the aggression-heightening effects of amphetamine as distinct from the disruptive actions on social and aggressive behavior. The neurobiological mechanisms for... 

Antagonism of several characteristic effects of amphetamine and cocaine by the alpha adrenergic receptor antagonist prazosin is a most recent example of noradrenergic mechanisms in the actions of psychomotor stimulants (Tessel and Barrett 1986). We investigated whether or not prazosin may attenuate the disruptive effects of amphetamine on social and aggressive behavior in mice and squirrel monkeys (Miczek, unpublished observations). Pretreatment with prazosin (0.4 mg/kg) attenuated the disruption of attack... 

Amphetamine may engender a dose-dependent biphasic effect on aggressive behavior in experimental situations, both with human and animal subjects, as, for example, in subjects that have habituated to an aggression-provoking stimulus. Most often, however, amphetamines disrupt social, sexual, maternal, and aggressive behavior patterns in a dose-dependent manner ... 

In fact, Cherek made that point in one of the very first studies. You cannot see further increases in monetary reinforced behavior. But you see a decline in aggressive behavior. And that is tme in other species and humans, too. So the most significant point is that the dismptive effects are due to the intmsion into the repertoires of other repetitive routines. 

Carlini, E.A., and Gonzales, C. Aggressive behavior induced by marihuana compounds and amphetamine in rats previously made dependent on morphine. Experientia 28 542-544, 1972. 

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