Neurobiological Bases of Abnormal Aggression and Violent Behaviour, Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2014

Mechanisms controlling aggressive behavior started to be identified from late 20's of the 20th century and subsequent research described such mechanisms in great detail. While the findings are of great relevance for the understanding of aggression per se, they provide limited insights into the mechanisms of abnormal aggression i.e. those mechanisms that underlie aggression-related psychopathologies. While basic phenomena and mechanism of aggression are presented, this book is the first that comprehensively describes ultimate and proximate mechanisms that transform normal (laboratory animals) or tolerable (humans) manifestations of aggressiveness into abnormal patterns in laboratory animals and aggression-related psychopathologies in humans. This book is written for behavioral neurobiologists and neuroscientists, interested in emotional control in general and aggression research in particular. The book will also offer important information to neurologists and psychiatrists dealing with aggressive behavior in the clinic and ultimately, may provide means to understand and on the long run to discover novel approaches to the treatment of abnormal human aggression.

Biological roots of aggression Animal aggression.- Heritability and genetic bases.- The aggressive brain.- The hormonal milieu.- Aggression across the lifespan - development and functions.- Aggression as a factor of temperament.- Human aggression Biological background and social functions.- Deviations from the norm.- Criminal aggression.- Aggression-related psychiatric disorders.- Treatments - from psychosurgery to medications.- Neural mechanisms of abnormal aggression Psychiatric disorders and laboratory models - theoretical considerations.- Neural background of abnormal aggression in laboratory models.- Genetic models.- Neurodevelopmental models.- Hormonal models.- Neural backgrounds - common and distinctive features.- Abnormal aggression in people.- Gene polymorphisms.- Brain imaging.- Hormones.- Biology and psychopathology - an integrative view on aggression.

Jozsef Haller was research fellow at the Biological Research Center in Kolozsvar, Romania from 1984 to 1990 and served as Assistant Professor at the Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest in Hungary from 1990 to 1992. From 1992 to 1999 he was senior research fellow at the Institute of Experimental Medicine, Budapest, Hungary and visiting scientist at the Leiden University in the Netherlands from 1996 to 1999. Currently, Jozsef Haller is Group Leader and Head of the Department of Behavioral Neurosciences at the Institute of Experimental Medicine in Budapest, Hungary. He has contributed several chapters about the neurobiology of aggression to various book projects and has amongst others published numerous reviews and research papers on the same theme.