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This book is the first to comprehensively describe ultimate and proximate mechanisms that transform normal or tolerable manifestations of aggressiveness into abnormal patterns in laboratory animals and aggression-related psychopathologies in humans.

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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.

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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.

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From the book reviews:

This book reviews the neurobiological underpinnings of aggression and violence. The target audience includes neurobiologists, neuroscientists interested in social behavior in general and aggressive behavior in particular. This is an excellent reference on this important, developing area of research. Any researcher or clinician involved in the study of aggression or the treatment of violent individuals would benefit from reading this informative book. (Michael Joel Schrift, Doody s Book Reviews, July, 2014)

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