- At sexual maturity, when levels of androgen increase, internal aggression markedly increases in many species. 
- In spotted hyenas, the females are more aggressive than the males, and the more androgen the female is exposed to before birth, the more aggressive she will be growing up
- In more typical mammals, decreasing circulating androgen by castration usually reduces intermale aggressive behavior profoundly. Treating castrated males with testerone restores fighting behavior

Androgen and aggression in animals

less clear-cut compared to animals
- Treating adult volunteers with extra testosterone does not increase their aggression; young men going through puberty experience a sudden increase in testosterone don't show correlated increasing aggressive behavior
- Some studies have shown a positive correlation between testosterone and level of hostility 
- Nonaggresive tendencies in males are related to satisfaction in family functioning and with lower levels of serum testerone

Androgen and aggression in humans

- Experience can affect testosterone levels
- Dominance as a confounding variable

Some complicated variables in the relationship between androgens and aggression

Androgens are hormones that contribute to growth and reproduction in both men and women
- Androgen and aggression in animals
- Androgen and aggression in humans
- Some complicated variables in the relationship between androgens and aggression

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

- Aggression
- Androgens seem to increase aggression
- Aggression has several neurochemical correlates
- A topic of controversy

Neural circuitry of violence and aggression

Breedlove, S. & Watson, N. (2017). Behavioral neuroscience, eighth edition. Oxford University Press.

Behavioral Neuroscience 8th Edition

Androgens seem to increase aggression

Aggressive behavior is modulated by neurotransmitter systems.
- Negative correlation between serotonin and aggression
- GABA and aggression
- Ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH)

Aggression has several neurochemical correlates

- A controversy: some intense violence are derived from temporal lobe disorders (emotional dyscontrol syndrome)
- psychopath
- Biological studies of aggression are controversial

A topic of controversy

Aggression is defined as any behavior intended to cause harm or pain to another person. It is a core topic in social psychology, encompassing a range of actions with different underlying motivations.

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