Early Environmental Insult, Neuronal Plasticity, and Aggression
/Organizer: Craig Ferris
University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester, MA
The symposium will focus on the neurobiological and behavioral consequences of early environmental insult. Data from animal studies in each of the talks support the notion that inappropriate, excessive aggressive behavior in adulthood may represent the developmental consequence of early insult. The symposium examines the deleterious effects of physical and emotional abuse, voluntary ethanol ingestion, cocaine and anabolic steroid exposure, and lead toxicity. Data will be presented from developmental studies comparing the aggressive behavior in siblings reared under control and stressful conditions. In each presentation, these behavioral changes are correlated with changes in endocrinology, neurochemistry and neuroanatomy that contribute to the normal regulation of agonistic behavior.
Vasopressin/serotonin model of inappropriate aggression following adolescent abuse
Craig Ferris, R. H. Melloni Jr., and Yvon Delville (University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester, MA)
Early lead exposure alters social communication and aggression
Yvon Delville (University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester, MA)
Chronic cocaine exposure during adolescence increases aggressive responding in young adulthood
R. J. Harrison, D.F. Connor, and R.H. Melloni, Jr. (University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester, MA)
Early anabolic steroid exposure enhances vasopressin-mediated aggression
R. H. Melloni, Jr., D.F. Connor, and R.J. Harrison (University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester, MA)
