There is a well-established relationship between aggression and lowered serotonin neurotransmission. Recently developed methodologies for manipulating L-tryptophan levels (and brain serotonin) have been applied to human laboratory studies of aggression. Collectively, these studies provide further evidence for the serotonin-aggression relationship. Two important findings have been made recently: (1) subsets of individuals (e.g., persons self-rating high on aggressive or hostility scales) may differ in their susceptibility to aggression produced through plasma tryptophan depletion; and (2) alcohol in combination with L-tryptophan depletion has an additive effect on aggression. All previous studies have been conducted with men. Extending these studies to women appears to be the much-needed next step given that serotonergic levels appear to vary both as a function of the menstrual cycle phase and menstrual symptomatology.
CITATION STYLE
Dougherty, D. M., Moeller, F. G., Bjork, J. M., & Marsh, D. M. (2000). Plasma L-tryptophan depletion and aggression. In Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology (Vol. 467, pp. 57–65). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4709-9_7
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