Table 1.

Similarities between human violence and potential rodent models of aggressive behavior from multiple disciplines. The potential models compared include SAL mice, wild-type Groningen (WTG) rats, adrenalectomized (ADxR) glucocorticoid-deficient rats and instigation/frustration induced aggression and alcohol-heightened aggression (AHA) in CFW mice.

Measures	Humans	SAL mice	WTG rats	ADxR rats	Instigation, frustration induced, AHA mice
BEHAVIORAL
Pre-escalation	Impulsive	High A/T, low T/(A + C) ratios	Low threat/clinch attack	High A/T ratio	?
Escalation/consummatory Behavior	Frequent attacks	Long, frequent attacks, attack bites at vulnerable body parts	Long, frequent attacks, intense attack bites	Attack bites at vulnerable body parts	Frequent attack bites, early bite latency and attack bites, high temporal peak density of aggressive behaviors (AHA males), frequent sideways threat, high bite frequency (instigation, frustration)
Post-escalation	Remorseful/callousness	Exhaustion	?	?	?
Context dependency	Low	Low	Low	Low	High (instigated mice)
NEUROBIOLOGY
[5-HT] in prefrontal cortex	Low	Low upon repeated experience	Low	?	?
5-HT1A# function	?	High	?	?	?
MAO* activity	Low	?	?	?	?
SERT• activity	Low	?	?	?	?
AUTONOMIC/ENDOCRINE
HPA-axis reactivity	High (reactive1)/low (instrumental2)	Low	?	Low	?
Sympathetic tone	High (reactive1)/low (instrumental2)	Low	?	Low	High
BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS
Alcohol preference	High	High	?	?	High (AHA mice)
Reproduction/litter size	High	High	?	?	?
Anxiety/depression	High (reactive)/low (instrumental)	?	?	?	?
Personality	Highly aggressive	Highly aggressive	Highly aggressive	Highly aggressive	Highly aggressive

^#Serotonin receptor 1-A protein, *Monoamine oxidase enzyme, ^•Serotonin transporter protein; ¹Reactive forms of aggression display high HPA axis reactivity and sympathetic tone while ²instrumental forms of aggression display relatively low HPA axis and sympathetic tone.