Stanley E Smerin
4301 Jones Bridge Road, Bethesda, MD 20814
Tanzania
Review Article
Neurophysiology of Aggression in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Author(s): Stanley E Smerin, Aiqin Chen and He LiStanley E Smerin, Aiqin Chen and He Li
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a universal anxiety disorder, affecting not only soldiers but also victims of every sort of traumatic stress-natural disaster, automobile collision, crime, domestic violence, bereavement. Aggressiveness, stemming from “intermittent explosive anger”, is a not infrequent comorbidity of PTSD, with the most serious consequences. The neurophysiology of aggression and anger in general, and PTSD in particular, is a jigsaw puzzle of which we are first gathering the pieces. In this chapter, PTSD is conceptualized as revolving around an idée fix of the traumatic experience, leading to fear and a derivative defensive form of aggression. The history of research in the neurophysiology of aggression and pertinent forms of memory and emotion are then reviewed, leading to a neuronal system that spans the brain. So.. View More»
DOI:
10.4172/2378-5756.1000364