The bewildering Neurobehavioural disorder: aggression vis-à-vis stress and alcohol

Aggression has been recognized as a near-universal behavior with substantial influence on and implications for human and animal social systems. It can be a significant problem since escalated aggression may result in serious damage to others and can reveal itself as a symptom of psycho- pathologies. It is often considered to be the product of environmental stressors, health problems, pain, psychiatric morbidity or behavioral stressors. There are different forms of human aggressive behavior which can depend on the triggering factors, social context or individual genetic predisposition. Nevertheless, the multiple etiologies, pathogenesis, and psychopharmacology of aggression in humans have not been identified and well recognized yet although certain factors are understood to increase risk for persistent aggressive behavior. The drug–aggression relationship exists in a complex manner often manifested as either direct or indirect. Importantly, alcohol is frequently cited for aggressive behavior in addition to its adverse medical or social consequences. It is also believed that there is a strong correlation between aggression and stress. There is a general agreement that stress in early life can lead to behavior disturbance although both genetic and epigenetic factors may influence exposure to stressful life events. Generally, aggression has been identified as a key area for research and pharmacological intervention since scientifically expressing its context is one of the greatest and most challenging problems in society. So, study on aggression has to be a ‘hot topic’ in scientific investigations for many specialists from different disciplines.