Ethological analysis of drug action on aggression and defense.

Psychopharmacological research on aggression pursues divergent objectives: From a pharmacological perspectives, animal aggression tests are employed in order to differentiate classes of psychotherapeutic drugs and to screen for specific agents. Psychiatric interests in animal aggression research attempt to model pathological aggressive behavior in humans. These efforts have yielded disappointing results because they are based neither on a detailed understanding of the behavioral characteristics of aggression nor of the relevant neural processes. The ethological approach to aggression research focuses on biologically relevant situations and behavior patterns. Quantitative methods describe drug action on the interactive and episodic nature of aggressive behavior. An analysis of the temporal pattern of aggressive behavior indicates how, for example, amphetamine and alcohol modulate sequences of aggressive interactions.