About the lecture

In this lecture, we think about the impact of brain structures on aggression, focusing in particular on: (i) some potential definitions of aggression; (ii) the joint impact of individual and situation in aggressive responses; (iii) the limbic system, including the thalamus, hypothalamus and amygdala, which impacts aggression, as well as the orbitofrontal cortex which impacts self-control and impulsivity; (iv) the limitations of this research, including that it is correlational, and that there is also an impact of the connections between these brain areas on behaviour.

About the lecturer

Dr Eduardo Vasquez is a senior lecturer in the School of Psychology at the University of Kent. His research interests include aggression, inter-group relations/conflict, and the influence of alcohol on social behaviours. Some of Dr Vasquez’s recent publications include 'Are you insulting me? Exposure to alcohol primes increases aggression following ambiguous provocation' (2014), 'Any of them will do: In-group identification, out-group entitativity, and gang membership as predictors of group based retribution' (2015), and 'The sexual objectification of girls and aggression towards them in gang and non-gang affiliated youth' (2017).