Ethanol effects on aggression of rats selected for different levels of aggressiveness

Blanchard, Robert J.; Hori, Kevin; Blanchard, D. Caroline; Hall, James C.

doi:10.1016/0091-3057(87)90187-0

Cited by 34 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…The increased aggression after alcohol did not characterize the group on average, but emerged only when the focus was on individual animals rather than the group. These results conÞrm previous studies in mice, rats and monkeys, which showed heightened aggression in certain individuals but not others after alcohol administered by the experimenter (Blanchard et al 1987a;Miczek et al 1992Miczek et al , 1993Miczek et al , 1994. The presently implemented methodology successfully engendered self-administration of alcohol in resident rats, leading to BACs most commonly of 550 mg/dl.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…Both low and high aggressive rats and mice show increased aggression after ethanol (Miczek et al 1992(Miczek et al , 1993. Another study showed that moderately aggressive rats show an increase whereas highly aggressive rats do not (Blanchard et al 1987a), possibly due to a ceiling e¤ect which would prevent any further increase. In general, the aggression heightening e¤ect of ethanol seems to be independent of the baseline level of aggression.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…In contrast, several studies have shown alcohol to increase aggression (e.g. Ellman et al 1972;Chance et al 1973;Miczek and Barry 1977;Pettijohn 1979;Blanchard et al 1987a;Lister and Hilakivi 1988). Many of these latter studies focused on lower ethanol doses, the oral route of administration, and the time since administration when blood alcohol concentrations are in the ascending phase.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 85%

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Increased aggression after ethanol self-administration in male resident rats

Erp

Miczek

1997

Psychopharmacology

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In order to study experimental alcohol intake that leads to heightened aggression, we established ethanol self-administration in aggressive rats. The focus was on low doses of self-administered ethanol and to assess their effects on aggressive behavior in resident rats, using a limited access paradigm followed by a 5-min confrontation with an intruder. In the first phase of the experiment, rats were established as "residents", and their consistent aggressive behavior in confrontations with an intruder was verified. In the second phase, these resident rats were trained to self-administer alcohol, using a sucrose-fading technique. In the third phase, alcohol self-administration was followed by intruder confrontations in order to study the effect of alcohol on aggression. Confrontations after ethanol consumption leading to low (5-20 mg/dl) and moderate (20-50 mg/dl) blood alcohol concentration (BAC) were compared to confrontations without alcohol, each animal serving as its own control. On average, the group showed no change in aggressive behavior after low or moderate ethanol intake. However, six out of 16 individuals significantly increased the number of attack bites and the duration of aggressive behavior by up to 90% after alcohol self-administration. When these rats were assigned post-hoc to an alcohol heightened aggression group, the group was characterized by a 40% increase in number of attack bites and a 90% increase in aggressive posture over control (BAC 0 mg/dl), whereas the alcohol non-heightened aggression group showed no significant changes. These results extend previous observations of increased aggression in a subpopulation of animals after experimenter-administered ethanol in mice, rats and monkeys to self-administered alcohol. Using this animal model, individuals showing enhanced or reduced aggression after oral alcohol self-administration can be characterized behaviorally, physiologically, and neurochemically.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 85%

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Increased aggression after ethanol self-administration in male resident rats

Erp

Miczek

1997

Psychopharmacology

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“…However, in the specific circumstances in which these animals do become aggressive in response to alcohol (Blanchard, Hori, Blanchard, & Hail, 1987), they also demonstrate an ''anxiolytic profile'' characterized by decreased proxemic avoidance, decreased risk assessment, and reduced suppression of nondefensive behaviors such as eating and drinking (Blanchard, Blanchard, & Rodgers, 1991). Moreover, alcohol administration greatly increases rodent locomotion towards a threat (for example, a compartment containing a cat; for a review, see Blanchard, Veniegas, Elloran, & Blanchard, 1993).…”

Section: Alcohol-aggression and Interrupted Threat-detectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drugs of abuse and the elicitation of human aggressive behavior

Hoaken

Stewart

2003

Addictive Behaviors

337

235

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The drug -violence relationship exists for several reasons, some direct (drugs pharmacologically inducing violence) and some indirect (violence occurring in order to attain drugs). Moreover, the nature of that relationship is often complex, with intoxication, neurotoxic, and withdrawal effects often being confused and/or confounded. This paper reviews the existing literature regarding the extent to which various drugs of abuse may be directly associated with heightened interpersonal violence. Alcohol is clearly the drug with the most evidence to support a direct intoxication -violence relationship. The literatures concerning benzodiazepines, opiates, psychostimulants, and phencyclidine (PCP) are idiosyncratic but suggest that personality factors may be as (or more) important than pharmacological ones. Cannabis reduces likelihood of violence during intoxication, but mounting evidence associates withdrawal with aggressivity. The literature on the relationship between steroids and aggression is largely confounded, and between 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and aggression insufficient to draw any reasonable conclusions. Conclusions and policy implications are briefly discussed. D

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“…Bidirectional dosedependent changes in aggression characterize alcohol effects in humans and animals, i.e., decreased aggressive behavior after higher doses due to the drug's sedative and intoxicating effects (e.g., Crowley et al 1974;Krsiak and Borgesova 1973;Lagerspetz and Ekqvist 1978;Mos and Olivier 1988;Smoothy and Berry 1983) and increased aggression after lower doses during the activation phase (e.g., Blanchard et al 1987;Chance et al 1973;Ellman et al 1972;Giancola and Zeichner 2001;Lister and Hilakivi 1988;Miczek et al 1998;Miczek and Barry 1977;Miczek and O'Donnell 1980;Pettijohn 1979;Zeichner and Pihl 1979). Marked individual differences characterize the aggression-heightening effects of alcohol as a significant minority of human and non-human primates, rats, and mice become more aggressive (Higley and Bennett 1999;Mehlman et al 1994;Miczek et al 1992;, 1998Miczek and de Almeida 2001;van Erp and Miczek 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%