NEUROTRANSMITTER-NEUROENDOCRINE RESPONSES TO EXPERIMENTALLY-INDUCED AGGRESSION IN HUMANS - INFLUENCE OF PERSONALITY VARIABLE

Aggressiveness was experimentally induced in 30 psychophysically healt hy male subjects, 18-19 years old, divided into 15 cases with low norm al and 15 with high normal basal aggressivity. Plasma norepinephrine ( NE), epinephrine (EPI), growth hormone (GH), prolactin (PRL), cortisol (CORT) and testosterone (Te) concentrations were measured in basal co nditions and during experimentally induced aggressiveness. Basal Te an d stimulated NE, GH and Cort levels were higher in subjects with high- normal than in those with low-normal aggressiveness, suggesting that t he functional tonus of the NE system and of the NE-dependent hormonal axes might be a modulator of the behavioral parameter. (C) 1997 Elsevi er Science Ireland Ltd.