The impact of chronic stress during adolescence on the development of aggressive behavior: A systematic review on the role of the dopaminergic system in rodents.
Pathological aggression, frequently observed in psychiatric patients and criminal subjects, poses a major burden on the health care and criminal justice system, necessitating better aetiological models to inform targets for prevention and intervention. Emerging evidence suggests that adverse experiences during development can cause long-lasting brain alterations associated with maladaptive behaviors, such as aggression. The present review discusses, mainly based on studies in rodents, whether disruption of the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system through chronic stress-exposure during adolescence predisposes to adult aggression. Our findings suggest that chronic stress in adolescence induces prefrontal cortex (PFC) hyperdopaminergia and ultimately leads to blunted prefrontal dopamine transmission in adulthood. This, in turn, disrupts the ability of the PFC to guide adaptive, long-term focused action selection by regulating mesolimbic dopamine signaling. We propose that, especially during the dynamic and transitional period of adolescence, exposure to chronic stress could lead to excessive adaptive change, which may result in an increased vulnerability to maladaptive aggression in adulthood. We discuss how these findings in rodents may translate to humans.
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, VU University Medical Center Amsterdam, Duivendrecht, The Netherlands; Department of Complex Trait Genetics, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research (CNCR), Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam (NCA), VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: j.tielbeek@debascule.com.
Jorim J
JJ
Tielbeek
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, VU University Medical Center Amsterdam, Duivendrecht, The Netherlands.
Zeineb
Z
Al-Itejawi
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, VU University Medical Center Amsterdam, Duivendrecht, The Netherlands.
Josjan
J
Zijlmans
Department of Complex Trait Genetics, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research (CNCR), Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam (NCA), VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Section Complex Trait Genetics, Department of Clinical Genetics, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam (NCA), VU University Medical Centre Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Tinca Jc
TJ
Polderman
Department of Psychology, Harvard University, 52 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, 52 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street Boston, MA 02114 USA.
Joshua W
JW
Buckholtz
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, VU University Medical Center Amsterdam, Duivendrecht, The Netherlands; Faculty of Law, Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Arne
A
Popma
D000374:Aggression / Q000502:physiology*; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000254:growth & development / Q000503:physiopathology*; D059290:Dopaminergic Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D012377:Rodentia / Q000523:psychology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology*
Adverse environment; Antisocial; Maladaptive behavior; Mesocortical; Mesolimbic; Peri-adolescent stress