Brain structure

• Frontal cortex within this area an important section is the pre-frontal area and damage to this area can lead to problems with decision making
• hippocampus is involved with transferring information from stm to ltm and could be involved with aggression and violence as damage to this area may mean person doesn’t learn appropriate responses to situations.
• Why might a person be aggressive when challenged?

  They lack appropriate learned responses.
• What is the function of the hypothalamus related to aggression?

  Regulates hormone production like testosterone.
• What effect does damage to the hypothalamus have on aggression?

  It can increase the level of rage displayed.
• Parietal lobe

  Involved in processing information from the senses including having an important role in language.
• Occipital lobe

  Responsible for visual processing
• Temporal lobe

  Deals with hearing some aspects of language and memory making
• Cerebellum

  Plays an important role in motor controls of movements as well as motor learning.
• Spinal cord

  Transmits nerve signals from the body to the brain
• Corpus Callosum

  Connects two hemispheres and enables communication between the two.
• Thalamus

  The brains relay station. Passes on sensory information
• Hypothalamus

  Regulates eating and drinking and release of sex hormones
• Amygdala

  Primary role in the processing of emotional responses, memory and decision making.
• Hippocampus

  Responsible for memory consolidation (transfer from STM to LTM), navigation and spatial memory
• Basal Ganglia

  Processing info on movement and planning responses. Also linked to habit forming and reward
• Axon terminals

  Contains the cell nucleus which holds genetic material for the neuron, Also contains mitochondria which give the cell energy.
• Myelin sheath

  Fatty deposits that provide an insulating layer and speed up the transmission
• Dendrites:

  Receive messages from other neurons to trigger an action potential (electrical Impulse).
• Cell body

  Contalns the cell nucleus which holds genetie material for the neuron, Also contains mitechondria which give the cell energy.
• Axon

  An extension of the cell body which the electrical Impulse passes down towards the axon terminals
• Nodes of Ranvier

  Break along the myelin sheath on the cell body which helps to speed up transmission.
• Dopamine

  Releasing the feelings of pleasure satisfaction and motivation
• Serotonin

  Controls your mood and makes you sleep and wakeup
• GABA

  Lessens the ability of a nerve cell to receive create or send chemicals to other nerve cells
• Frontal Cortex:

  within this area an important section is the pre frontal area and damage to this area can lead to problems with decision making, regulating aggressive response, and impulse control so this can lead to aggressive outbursts as the person will make the wrong decision about what is an appropriate response in different situations
• Hippocampus

  This is involved with transferring Information from STM to LTM and could be involved with aggression and violence. It may be that damage to this area of the brain means that the person does not learn appropriate responses to situations so is more likely to be aggressive when challenged by others as they don't store the correct way to behave in memory.
• Amygdala

  This is one of the control centres in the brain for regulating instinctive emotional response so damage could cause a person to be aggressive as their response becomes excessive. Damage to the right amygdala leads to a greater deficit in decision making and appropriate social behaviour in men. The right side is also more involved with impulsive behaviour and it tends to react quicker than the left amygdala to fear stimuli so could explain aggressive behaviour.
• Hypothalamus

  Hypothalamus regulates hormone production such as testosterone which is implicated in aggression. Males naturally produce more testosterone than females, Damage to the hypothalamus can affect the level of rage a person displays making them more aggressive.
• Case study of Phineas Gage, who had a tamping iron lodged through his skull during an explosion, damaging his frontal cortex. It was found that after the accident he become more irresponsible and aggressive.This shows the structure of the prefrontal cortex has a role in aggression,
• Case study of Charles Whitman who shot 16 students at Texas University, was found to have a brain tumour near his amygdala affecting his impulsivity and aggression. This suggests that brain structure such as the amygdala causes aggression.
• Downer's (1961) found that monkeys who had one amygdala removed did not process the presence of humans as aggressive but monkeys with an attached amygdala are aggressive towards humans. This suggests changes to the structure of the amygdala can cause changes to aggression.
• In which gender is testosterone more dominant?

  Males
• What are the primary functions of testosterone in males?

  Sex drive, body muscle mass, and mood
• Which part of the brain regulates testosterone levels?

  Hypothalamus
• What is cortisol often referred to in relation to testosterone?

  Dual-hormone hypothesis
• What is the primary function of cortisol?

  Protects against stress
• Where is cortisol produced?

  Adrenal glands
• When are high levels of aggression often displayed?

  When cortisol is low and testosterone is high
• What effect does high cortisol have on testosterone's influence?

  It blocks testosterone's influence on aggression