Why some people love conflict so much

How aggression is born: the battle of the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala

Many brain structures regulate our behavior and response to external circumstances. The limbic system, including the amygdala and hippocampus, is responsible for emotions: fear, pleasure, rage. They are essential to survival because they reinforce rewarding behaviors and help avoid danger.

But sometimes emotions need to be slowed down in order to adequately respond to external circumstances. This is done by the prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortex. They regulate behavior, predict the likelihood of reward and punishment, and suppress aggression.

Even if you want to whip a person in the face for being so dumb, you won't: the prefrontal cortex understands how it might end.

A person's response depends on which brain structure wins. And this, in turn, is determined by many different factors.

Why does the bark lose

Brain trauma

In people with disorders of some parts of the cerebral cortex, aggressive and hostile behavior is noted. There is a known case when a responsible worker after an occupational injury, which led to damage to the orbitofrontal cortex, became aggressive and unsociable.

Of course, such cases are not very common and the person with the injury is unlikely to work for your company. But when it comes to an aggressive stranger, then such a reason has a right to exist.

Lack of gray matter

In psychopaths and antisocial personalities, there is a lack of gray matter in some areas of the cortex. This structural disorder prevents them from feeling guilty and empathic, evaluating the consequences of their actions, and suppressing impulsive behavior.

To run into a psychopath is much more real than a person with a head injury. Therefore, be careful: people with this disorder not only enjoy the violence, but also do not think about the consequences of their actions.

Lack of serotonin and excess of dopamine

The neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine are associated with aggressive behavior in mammals. For example, in rats in this state, the level of dopamine in the brain rises to 140%, while the level of serotonin, on the contrary, decreases to 80%. The lack of the latter in the prefrontal cortex of animals causes exacerbated forms of aggression, and when the level of this mediator is artificially increased, the aggression subsides.

This is true for humans as well. One study found fewer serotonin byproducts in the cerebrospinal fluid of aggressive people than in people with adequate responses. In another experiment, ingestion of a substance that lowers serotonin levels in the brain made the participants aggressive and hostile.

Serotonin can decrease for a variety of reasons. It is often associated with bad mood, and the connection works in both directions: increased serotonin raises mood, and improved mood in any way raises serotonin.

Therefore, the statement that people are aggressive because of a bad mood makes sense.

In addition, serotonin metabolism can be genetically implicated. Therefore, aggressive behavior is inherited by 44–72%. Moreover, the effect of genetic predisposition can increase difficult childhood: 45% of aggressive people experienced early abuse.

This confirms the fact that most often children of the same age are bullied by children facing abuse in the family or poor socio-economic conditions.

Also, the metabolism of serotonin is disrupted by alcohol intake. Perhaps this is why alcoholics are often aggressive and violent.

Aggressive behavior can be caused by a genetic predisposition to aggression, a difficult childhood, or alcohol intoxication.

So, one of these factors suppressed the activity of the prefrontal cortex, and the amygdala took over. However, his victory does not fully explain the aggressive behavior. People with an overactive amygdala may just be anxious rather than aggressive. What makes them behave hostile? There are several theories.

Why do people behave aggressively

Fear, hostility, and distrust can be a consequence of low oxytocin levels. Oxytocin is a hormone that builds affection and trust between people. In addition, it inhibits the activity of the amygdala and its deficiency increases the chances of aggressive behavior.

Hugging is known to increase the amount of oxytocin. So the next time someone at the bar calls you out to talk, try hugging them (just kidding). Most likely, the aggressor will push you away and the fight will start not on the street, but right in the bar. Because he likes it.

Since dopamine is involved in aggressive behavior, scientists have hypothesized that aggression can cause pleasure. The fact is that dopamine is directly related to the reward system and plays a large role in obtaining pleasure and forming addictions. It is logical to assume that people can get addicted to aggressive behavior and deliberately look for conflict situations.

What's more, the study found that already low serotonin levels decline even further after a victorious experience of aggression.

If a person got into a fight and won, his serotonin receptors began to work even worse. So after each successful conflict for him, he becomes even more aggressive.

It is difficult for a normal person to understand how one can get pleasure from this. After all, conflict situations cause so much stress: trembling hands, cold sweat, a lump in the throat - this is not pleasant. There is one theory that explains this: the aggressors simply do not feel these feelings.

Aggressive people have decreased levels of stress hormone cortisol. The lack of this hormone does not allow the autonomic nervous system to be activated, and people with such a violation deliberately perform actions that increase arousal. In addition, due to the reduced level of cortisol, they feel calmer when committing violence against other people. And if your hands are shaking after a scandal, then it will bring them only a slight pleasant excitement.