Regulation of aggressive behaviors by nicotinic acetylcholine receptors: Animal models, human genetics, and clinical studies.

ABSTRACT: Neuropsychiatric disorders are frequently complicated by aggressive behaviors. For some individuals, existing behavioral and psychopharmacological treatments are ineffective or confer significant side effects, necessitating development of new ways to treat patients with severe aggression. Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are a large and diverse family of ligand-gated ion channels expressed throughout the brain that influence behaviors highly relevant for neuropsychiatric disorders, including attention, mood, and impulsivity. Nicotine and other drugs targeting nAChRs can reduce aggression in animal models of offensive, defensive, and predatory aggression, as well as in human laboratory studies. Human genetic studies have suggested a relationship between the CHRNA7 gene encoding th

SUBMITTER: Lewis AS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7080580 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature