[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/6696\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003ELifting the red mist with research on aggression\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight: 400;\u0022\u003EAggression is among the most fundamental of natural behavioural responses seen in all animals. It can help predators secure their next meal and gives prey a fighting chance to survive another day. From cubs to children, playful aggression is also part of a healthy cognitive and physical development.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight: 400;\u0022\u003EBut in many modern human societies, aggression is often socially unacceptable, especially when expressed in the wrong situation. It is often associated with violence and crime. For some people, controlling their aggression can be such a problem it can ruin lives and so understanding where it comes from could provide new avenues for treatment.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight: 400;\u0022\u003E\u2018\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight: 400;\u0022\u003EAggression is not just one concept,\u2019 said Professor Barbara Franke, molecular genetics expert at Radboud University, the Netherlands. \u2018It\u0027s a number of different phenotypes (the characteristics that arise from genes interacting with environment) that have evolved for different purposes, and that are probably supported by different routes in the brain and therefore should be treated differently.\u2019\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight: 400;\u0022\u003EShe coordinates the EU-funded AggressoType\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight: 400;\u0022\u003E project which involves teams of researchers, clinicians and companies who are trying to research the problem from the molecular level up to that of an individual\u0027s behaviour. The aim is to\u0026nbsp;understand the mechanisms underlying\u0026nbsp;aggressive behaviour and find new ways of preventing and treating it.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight: 400;\u0022\u003EAccording to Prof. Franke, one of the most promising studies within the project\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight: 400;\u0022\u003E involves creating a cheap and fast test to see the impacts of a certain drug on aggression. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EZebrafish\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight: 400;\u0022\u003E\u2018Our colleagues in Leicester (UK) and Lissieu (France) developed a screen (test) using zebrafish,\u2019 she said. This makes a good (animal) model because \u2018it does have a short life cycle and produces a lot of offspring, so you can quickly get to a new generation, and there is a good genetic toolbox available if you want to genetically modify your\u0026nbsp;fish based on what\u0026nbsp;we learn about the genetics of aggression.\u2019\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight: 400;\u0022\u003EOther research groups in Mannheim, Germany, and Z\u00fcrich, Switzerland, are testing a therapeutic technique called biofeedback, which gives children visual feedback about their physiological arousal to\u0026nbsp;prevent aggression.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight: 400;\u0022\u003EIn the UK, Professor Philip Asherson, a molecular psychiatrist at King\u2019s College London, has spent the last four years exploring the neurological basis of aggression and its treatment under the Aggressotype project.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight: 400;\u0022\u003E\u2018It\u2019s like a red mist that descends on them,\u2019 he said. \u2018People click to another mode and it\u2019s hard for them to hold back.\u2019\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight: 400;\u0022\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018People click to another mode and it\u2019s hard for them to hold back.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EProfessor Philip Asherson, King\u2019s College London, UK\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight: 400;\u0022\u003EHe is studying aggression in the context of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in prisons. It is work that has already identified potential treatments.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight: 400;\u0022\u003E\u2018A lot of prisoners with ADHD have problems with controlling their emotions,\u2019 he said. \u2018We are doing a randomised trial among prisoners to see whether the compound we administer alters their behaviour, reducing negative aggression.\u2019\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight: 400;\u0022\u003EThe trial is entirely voluntary, has no bearing on the prisoner\u0027s sentence or care, and those who decline to take part receive treatment available to all with ADHD. So far, early results suggest that treating ADHD with commonly used stimulants can help reduce aggressive behaviour. Researchers hope that once the treatment\u2019s wide ranging impacts are better understood, the therapy might allow prisoners to engage in new positive activities such as education or employment.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENew ways of thinking\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight: 400;\u0022\u003EThe approach perhaps highlights the need for new ways of thinking about aggression that is drawing social scientists and medical scientists closer together in their effort to tackle the issue.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight: 400;\u0022\u003E\u2018Of course you can just think of aggression as a reaction to your environment and focus on supporting people in their early development,\u2019 said Prof. Asherson. \u2018For example, making sure children have a good upbringing in a loving family.\u2019\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight: 400;\u0022\u003EBut once people develop aggression, they have enormous difficulties in controlling their reactions and treating the problem becomes much harder, he added. It suggests there needs to be a more joined up approach when dealing with aggression and violence.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight: 400;\u0022\u003EThis is something that another EU-funded project, called Risky Brains, is hoping to help foster. It is helping to identify the social and political implications of the scientific research into the underlying neurobiology of violence to inform those working on it from a social perspective.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight: 400;\u0022\u003EIn the past, the social and medical sciences have worked on the issue of aggression from opposite sides, rarely working together to tackle the common problem.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight: 400;\u0022\u003E\u2018The main challenge is to define violence and aggression, as sometimes the definition neuroscientists use are not very precise, and sometimes even conflicting,\u2019 explained Professor Torsten Heinemann, a sociologist at the University of Hamburg, Germany, who is part of the Risky Brains team. \u2018Now life scientists are coming up with a series of very elaborate definitions, leaving social scientists feeling disregarded after many decades of work.\u2019 \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERemoving prejudice\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight: 400;\u0022\u003EHis hope is that by combining neuroscience with social science, the project might also help to give a more objective look at what it means to be abnormally violent and it may help to remove common prejudices such as race, wealth or education that often enter discussions on this issue.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight: 400;\u0022\u003EThis can creep into even apparently objective scientific studies.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight: 400;\u0022\u003EProf. Heinemann hopes that efforts such as the Risky Brains project can help to highlight potential flaws in the methods used in research and correct them. It could help researchers who are trying to identify traits \u2013 whether genetic or in their environment \u2013 that might suggest an individual is more likely to be aggressive.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/bit.ly\/newsalertsignup\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003E\u003Cimg class src=\u0022https:\/\/horizon-magazine.eu\/research-and-innovation\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/news-alert-final.jpg\u0022 alt width=\u0022983\u0022 height=\u0022222\u0022\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy identifying the early signs of dysfunctional aggression, it may one day be possible to help those who struggle to control themselves.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EIf you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-t08qdjr9ma2j4ufxa3nj5wtmuwkqcoi8z2fsc4m1qf8\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-T08qDJr9Ma2j4ufXa3NJ5wTmuwkqcoi8Z2fSC4M1QF8\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]