Ventromedial Hypothalamus and the Generation of Aggression
Aggression is a costly behavior, sometimes with severe consequences including death. Yet aggression is prevalent across animal species ranging from insects to humans, demonstrating its essential role in the survival of individuals and groups. The question of how the brain decides when to generate th...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2017-12-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnsys.2017.00094/full |
| _version_ | 1818138355989217280 |
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| author | Yoshiko Hashikawa Koichi Hashikawa Annegret L. Falkner Dayu Lin Dayu Lin Dayu Lin |
| author_facet | Yoshiko Hashikawa Koichi Hashikawa Annegret L. Falkner Dayu Lin Dayu Lin Dayu Lin |
| author_sort | Yoshiko Hashikawa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Aggression is a costly behavior, sometimes with severe consequences including death. Yet aggression is prevalent across animal species ranging from insects to humans, demonstrating its essential role in the survival of individuals and groups. The question of how the brain decides when to generate this costly behavior has intrigued neuroscientists for over a century and has led to the identification of relevant neural substrates. Various lesion and electric stimulation experiments have revealed that the hypothalamus, an ancient structure situated deep in the brain, is essential for expressing aggressive behaviors. More recently, studies using precise circuit manipulation tools have identified a small subnucleus in the medial hypothalamus, the ventrolateral part of the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMHvl), as a key structure for driving both aggression and aggression-seeking behaviors. Here, we provide an updated summary of the evidence that supports a role of the VMHvl in aggressive behaviors. We will consider our recent findings detailing the physiological response properties of populations of VMHvl cells during aggressive behaviors and provide new understanding regarding the role of the VMHvl embedded within the larger whole-brain circuit for social sensation and action. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T10:10:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3e0a2a1933a54ad29f50553a3e9152d4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5137 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T10:10:53Z |
| publishDate | 2017-12-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-3e0a2a1933a54ad29f50553a3e9152d42022-12-22T01:11:45ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience1662-51372017-12-011110.3389/fnsys.2017.00094311098Ventromedial Hypothalamus and the Generation of AggressionYoshiko Hashikawa0Koichi Hashikawa1Annegret L. Falkner2Dayu Lin3Dayu Lin4Dayu Lin5Neuroscience Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York University, New York, NY, United StatesNeuroscience Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York University, New York, NY, United StatesNeuroscience Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York University, New York, NY, United StatesNeuroscience Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York University, New York, NY, United StatesDepartment of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York University, New York, NY, United StatesCenter for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, United StatesAggression is a costly behavior, sometimes with severe consequences including death. Yet aggression is prevalent across animal species ranging from insects to humans, demonstrating its essential role in the survival of individuals and groups. The question of how the brain decides when to generate this costly behavior has intrigued neuroscientists for over a century and has led to the identification of relevant neural substrates. Various lesion and electric stimulation experiments have revealed that the hypothalamus, an ancient structure situated deep in the brain, is essential for expressing aggressive behaviors. More recently, studies using precise circuit manipulation tools have identified a small subnucleus in the medial hypothalamus, the ventrolateral part of the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMHvl), as a key structure for driving both aggression and aggression-seeking behaviors. Here, we provide an updated summary of the evidence that supports a role of the VMHvl in aggressive behaviors. We will consider our recent findings detailing the physiological response properties of populations of VMHvl cells during aggressive behaviors and provide new understanding regarding the role of the VMHvl embedded within the larger whole-brain circuit for social sensation and action.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnsys.2017.00094/fullVMHvlaggressionmouseneural activityneuromodulation |
| spellingShingle | Yoshiko Hashikawa Koichi Hashikawa Annegret L. Falkner Dayu Lin Dayu Lin Dayu Lin Ventromedial Hypothalamus and the Generation of Aggression Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience VMHvl aggression mouse neural activity neuromodulation |
| title | Ventromedial Hypothalamus and the Generation of Aggression |
| title_full | Ventromedial Hypothalamus and the Generation of Aggression |
| title_fullStr | Ventromedial Hypothalamus and the Generation of Aggression |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ventromedial Hypothalamus and the Generation of Aggression |
| title_short | Ventromedial Hypothalamus and the Generation of Aggression |
| title_sort | ventromedial hypothalamus and the generation of aggression |
| topic | VMHvl aggression mouse neural activity neuromodulation |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnsys.2017.00094/full |
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