Neuroscience of violence?

[Mafioso]

Watching videos, like the one below, and it seems like there is a certain amount of "pleasure" in violence, and other situations generally viewed as hellish, like war. Obviously there is a lot of pain and misery involved in these types of situations, but this video does stir some curiosity in me. It makes sense that there is a certain amount of pleasure in something like rage. It never really made sense to me how blinding rage and anger can be, but after using a lot of drugs, it seems similar to be blinding as highly dopaminergic drugs like opioids or stimulants. Like almost as if it's a sort of dopamine "intoxication".

Is this something that is at all understood yet, or if not what are the prevailing theories?

 

[sekio]

presumably like any other risk/reward heavy, task-focused activity, there's a good amount of dopamine/norepinephrine/adrenaline activity involved, c.f. gambling, sex, competitive gaming

 

[thegreenhand]

Alcohol is believed to have it's violence-prone effects due to GABAergic inhibition of the prefrontal cortex, reducing out ability to "reason" past the more primitive parts of our brain.

Alcohol, Violence, and Aggression - Alcohol Alert No. 38-1997

pubs.niaaa.nih.gov

 

[mr peabody]

Not sure if it qualifies, but in my personal experience, there's an awful lot more to this than people think:

Cannabis and domestic violence*

by Wendy Patrick | Psychology Today | Oct 8 2018

In an attempt to reduce the likelihood of interpersonal violence, there has traditionally been an emphasis placed on precursors such as anger management, history of violent behavior, and alcohol abuse. But the finding that cannabis is linked to interpersonal violence requires us to re-examine the complicated relationship between personality traits, substance use, and violent behavior.

A recent study, by Ryan Shorey et al., has linked cannabis use and interpersonal violence. The authors began by reporting that cannabis use is commonly reported among men arrested for domestic violence, a report that is concerning given the fact that past research has established a link between cannabis use and IPV.

Acknowledging IPV as a serious public health problem, the authors set out to discover whether cannabis was linked to IPV on its own, versus in combination with other factors. Accordingly, their research examined the link between cannabis use and IPV perpetration after controlling for three known risk factors for IPV: alcohol use and related problems, antisocial personality symptoms, and relationship satisfaction.

They found that cannabis use was “positively and significantly associated” with all forms of IPV (physical, psychological, and sexual), even after controlling for all three risk factors. They also found that the link between cannabis use and sexual IPV was stronger when combined with alcohol. The authors note this finding is consistent with past research, which suggests that polysubstance users report more frequent IPV episodes than their non-polysubstance using counterparts.

*From the article here:

Seeing Green? Cannabis Use Associated With Domestic Violence

Domestic violence awareness month reminds us that interpersonal violence remains a national epidemic. Research continues to explore methods of decreasing the likelihood of abuse.

www.psychologytoday.com

 

[polymath]

FPS video games can be fun, but I think most people find depictions of really brutal violence, like in the movie "Irreversible", quite disgusting (some scenes of that sick fuck movie are on Youtube).

 

[AlphaMethylPhenyl]

Hormones. Stimulating substances. Stress. And, yes, I think cannabis can dissociate one enough to cause real damage while they don't understand the truth of what they're doing.

 

[draculic acid69]

I would have thought cannabis would reduce violence not make it more likely.lead in the air can also be a factor in violent peoples behaviour as ppl with higher levels of lead in there system are more prone to violence.

 

[Lil'LinaptkSix]

it seems like there is a certain amount of "pleasure" in violence,

Violence and sex are the biggest draws (sellers) since the "beginning".

and other situations generally viewed as hellish, like war.

I assure you war (combat anyway) is not pleasurable... lest one likes that adrenaline... I find it rather destructive to well-being (physically and mentally). Some obviously get stuck as there is really nothing after the adrenaline of active combat. Nothing. Unless one wished to boot street H and see how quick one gets a bag of fent to take ya out....
Go in as a kid and come out with no skills (mostly) other than the arts of war and there is a recipe for disaster... look at the vets of any wars.

 

[polymath]

I would have thought cannabis would reduce violence not make it more likely.lead in the air can also be a factor in violent peoples behaviour as ppl with higher levels of lead in there system are more prone to violence.

I think anything that can be a reason for arguments with one's spouse, or that tells about someone not respecting all aspects of law, has a correlation with domestic violence. The actual causal links may be a bit more complicated.

 

[draculic acid69]

The arguing with a spouse part was something I overlooked in my initial thought.now I see it I totally understand.