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Updated: Mar 27, 2026

The Resident-intruder Paradigm: A Standardized Test for Aggression, Violence and Social Stress
Published on: July 4, 2013
High trait aggression in men is associated with low 5-HT levels, as indexed by 5-HT4 receptor binding
Sofi da Cunha-Bang1, Brenda Mc Mahon2, Patrick MacDonald Fisher3
1Department of Neurology, Rigshospitalet, Neurobiology Research Unit and Center for Integrated Molecular Imaging, Copenhagen, Denmark and Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark gmk@nru.dk.
Abstract:
Impulsive aggression has commonly been associated with a dysfunction of the serotonin (5-HT) system: many, but not all, studies point to an inverse relationship between 5-HT and aggression. As cerebral 5-HT4 receptor (5-HT4R) binding has recently been recognized as a proxy for stable brain levels of 5-HT, we here test the hypothesis in healthy men and women that brain 5-HT levels, as indexed by cerebral 5-HT4R, are inversely correlated with trait aggression and impulsivity. Sixty-one individuals (47 men) underwent positron emission tomography scanning with the radioligand [(11)C]SB207145 for quantification of brain 5-HT4R binding. The Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ) and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale were used for assessment of trait aggression and trait impulsivity. Among male subjects, there was a positive correlation between global 5-HT4R and BPAQ total score (P = 0.037) as well as BPAQ physical aggression (P = 0.025). No main effect of global 5-HT4R on trait aggression or impulsivity was found in the mixed gender sample, but there was evidence for sex interaction effects in the relationship between global 5-HT4R and BPAQ physical aggression. In conclusion we found that low cerebral 5-HT levels, as indexed by 5-HT4R binding were associated with high trait aggression in males, but not in females.
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