War also creates pleasure

By LEE DYE

Research shows that our brains also like a little bit of argument, so it is not surprising that there is too much violence in the world. Scientists who have proved aggressive also create pleasure for the brain like sex, food or opium.

Researchers at Vanderbilt University in Nashville have discovered that sugar in the brain responds to aggression and releases dopamine neurotransmitters. This substance is also produced under the influence of many other stimuli. Although basic research is done with experimental mice, scientists believe their findings are true for mammals, including humans.

Craig Kennedy, professor of special education and pediatrics at Vanderbilt and co-author of the study published on January 14, 2008 in Psychopharmacology, says: I am a lab rat who was injected with cocaine, my pleasure sugar will be stimulated. If I was a human who was also given cocaine, it would still be a pleasure . ' Now Kennedy and his colleague Maria Couppis have demonstrated that the aforementioned sugar also works when a war occurs.

The two scientists have found a new way to prove the hypothesis that aggression nourishes itself by stimulating the sugar system of pleasure.

Vanderbilt University researchers in Nashville have shown that aggression also creates a sense of pleasure for the brain like sex, food or opium.(Photo: ABC News)

They conducted the study with a pair of experimental mice, a male one kept in the same cage (called home mouse temporarily). In addition, some other male mice were kept in another cage. The female was separated from the ' house mouse ' cage, replaced by a male mouse from the cage. Soon a tense battle took place between two males with a series of biting, hitting and beating actions.

After a few minutes of ' fighting ', the uninvited person was brought out. And then the interesting part. The male mouse in the ' house mouse ' was taught how to push the nose on a button to show that he wanted to engage an invader. And the invader returned to the opening stage for another battle. Keep going like that until the evening.

But that's all, it hasn't proved anything yet because mice sometimes like to ' act a little '. However, the researchers inserted a small tube into a part of the brain of the mouse where the pleasure line was found. The tube helps them pump into a dopamine inhibitor on that part of the brain.

The results are obvious and anyone standing near the cage can see. The house mouse has been taken away dopamine as well as the excitement from the aggression no longer has any interest in fighting. He walked around the cage, snapped his nose into many places that were customary, except for the button that allowed the invader to come back. Kennedy said: 'It is complete without any motivation to do that.' Sensory keys related to aggression have been eliminated.

According to Kennedy, that means the house mouse has received some positive feedback from the fighting, but when dopamine is inhibited, agitation also disappears so he doesn't want to fight anymore. But what is true for mice is not always true for humans. However, there are significant similarities in the anatomy between the rat brain and the human brain.

Kennedy said: 'There have been many studies of opium and other pleasure agents that have demonstrated that humans and mice all have the same brain region involved in this process.'

More experiments are needed, including experiments with humans to prove the research of scientists at Vanderbilt to be true to humans. But there is also a reason for us to believe that people are not all different from other species.

Nearly all animals have aggressive nature, especially males . This seems to be an important evolutionary product to survive. Kennedy said: 'Regardless of any species, aggression is part of instinctive behavior. It happens in situations like invasion of territory, food, partners or child protection. '

Wariness preserved after a long evolutionary process because during that time it proved its usefulness. For almost every species it is useful, but for humans it becomes a bit of a problem if it is too aggressive. And one of the ways we use to hide the fact that we like a bit of ' fighting ' is to play sports - whether it is a participant or an audience. This method has rotated the dopamine flow into our brains.

Kennedy said: 'We encourage violence by watching violent sports, boxing, soccer or the like. It is an ideal way for us to enjoy battles in a more entertaining and entertaining way. '

Kennedy intended to conduct research on humans but used fewer interventions. Instead of inserting a tube into the brain, he will use a sophisticated new life scanner to observe what's going on inside the subject's brain. All he needed was those who agreed to sit in the scanner, watch boxing or kicking the ball to create a sense of aggression. He hopes that more people will volunteer.

Lee Dye is a science writer for the Los Angeles Times. He currently lives in Juneau, Alaska.