Fish oils and aggression or hostility

Fish oils have long been known to protect the heart from ischemic heart disease and fatal arrhythmia. Recently they have also been suggested to protect the heart in a literal sense! Although not all reports on fish oils and psychiatric disorder support the latter notion, many of them claim that fish oils were effective. The point is that, different from currently prescribed psychiatric medicines, fish oils do not do harm to any part of the body. We have been working on the effects of fish oils on aggressive behavior and hostility. Unfortunately this area of research is not mature yet. The number of related papers is rather limited, so we will take aggression and/or hostility in a broader sense including oppositional behavior, violence etc. in this review. We found fourteen intervention studies checking the effects of fish oils on aggressive behavior. Eleven of them showed the aggression/hostility-controlling effects of fish oils one way or another. We did not try to summarize those effects by meta-analysis, because we thought that the methods of research were too heterogeneous. The mechanisms as to how fish oils affect aggression/hostility is not clear yet, but several possible mechanisms have been postulated. Among them, activation of the serotonergic neuron system is the most promising. The research area of fish oils and aggression/hostility is clearly important from the medical and social points of view.     

精神分裂症患者童年创伤与认知功能损害、敌意归因偏向和自我怜悯能力的相关性研究

摘要 目的：探讨精神分裂症患者童年创伤与认知功能损害、敌意归因偏向和自我怜悯能力的相关性。方法：选取2019年3月至2021年6月我院收治的70例精神分裂症患者（精神分裂症组）和53例社区健康志愿者（对照组）。采用童年创伤问卷（CTQ）、中文版精神分裂症认知功能成套测验（MCCB）、中文版模棱两可、目的和敌意问卷（AIHQ-C）、中文版自我怜悯量表（SCS-C）评估所有受试人员的童年创伤、认知功能、敌意归因偏向和自我怜悯能力。Pearson相关分析精神分裂症患者CTQ评分与MCCB、AIHQ-C、SCS-C评分的相关性。结果：精神分裂症组CTQ各分量表评分及总分、AIHQ-C各项目评分及总分均高于对照组（P＜0.05）;精神分裂症组MCCB各项目评分及总分、SCS-C各因子（自我友善、普遍人性、正念）评分及总分均低于对照组（P＜0.05）。Pearson相关性分析结果显示,精神分裂症患者CTQ总分与MCCB总分、SCS-C总分呈负相关（r=-0.327、-0.470,P＜0.05）,与AIHQ-C总分呈正相关（r=0.362,P＜0.05）。结论：精神分裂症患者的童年心理创伤水平较高,且与当前认知功能受损、敌意归因偏向和自我怜悯水平降低有关。     

Correlations between the level of aggressiveness of personality and characteristics of event-related EEG potentials

In a group of 76 adults of both sexes, we examined interrelations between the level of aggressiveness of the individual (diagnosed using the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory) and parameters of event-related EEG potentials (ERPs) recorded under conditions of two behavioral test acts including a motor component. Within the framework of task A, the subject must push a button with the shortest delay after an executory signal preceded by a warning signal; the time of sensorimotor reaction was measured. Under these conditions, we recorded the contingent negative variayion (CNV) and the P300 potential. In the case of task B, it was necessary to measure a definite time interval limited by two pushings of the button. Under these conditions, the readiness potential (RP) was recorded in addition to the CNV and P300. The C3 and C4 leads were used (according to the 10–20 system); the time constant of an amplification tract was 10 sec. Despite natural broad interindividual variability, high amplitudes of the recorded ERPs (RP, CNV, and P300) in general corresponded to lower indices by scales of the Buss-Durkee inventory and smaller values of the indices of aggressiveness and hostility. These interrelations are, probably, based on the fact that both characteristics of aggressiveness of the personality and EEG amplitude parameters are to a considerable extent determined by hereditary factors. It is believed that the respective peculiarities of the neurodynamic constitution of the individual are to a great extent dependent on the specificities of organization and functioning of a few neurotransmitter (in particular, aminergic) and neurohumoral systems. Neirofiziologiya/Neurophysiology, Vol. 39, No. 2, pp. 154–164, March–April, 2007.     

Cardiovascular Response to Interpersonal Provocation and Mental Arithmetic among High and Low Hostile Young Adult Males

To examine the relation between hostility and cardiovascular reactivity to stress, 42 undergraduate men were categorized into high and low hostile groups based on responses to the Cook Medley Hostility Scale. Participants engaged in two laboratory tasks: a Cognitive Task (mental arithmetic) and a Social Task (confrontation role-play). Cardiovascular measures of heart rate and blood pressure were obtained throughout rest and task periods and participants provided ratings of state anger and forgiveness following task completion. Results revealed that low hostile participants exhibited greater systolic blood pressure (SBP) responses to both tasks than high hostile participants (p < .05), but no significant group differences were observed for heart rate or diastolic blood pressure. High hostile men reported greater state anger during resting conditions and less forgiveness following completion of tasks than low-hostile counterparts, but neither of these findings moderated the relation between hostility and SBP reactivity. Higher ratings of forgiveness were associated with lower SBP reactivity. These findings show that hostility is not always associated with exaggerated cardiovascular reactivity to stress, and the influence of various moderating factors should be considered in elucidating this relation.