Abnormal aggression models and the neurobiology of violence
József Haller

Aggression is a natural behaviour, whereas violence is not. The biomedical approach assumed for a long time that the mechanisms of aggression and violence are essentially similar. However, recent work with abnormal aggression models refuted this assumption. Work with such models not only showed that the mechanisms of aggression and violence differ, but also that behaviourally different abnormal aggressions have different neuroendocrinologic underpinnings. I will overview the concept of abnormal aggression, and summarize the mechanistic discoveries related to this approach. The human relevance of these findings will also be addressed.