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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: one_less who wrote (254396)	1/17/2008 4:35:48 PM
From: Ruffian	Respond to of 281500

Study: Mice Crave Violence, and Humans May Too Thursday, January 17, 2008 By Jeanna Bryner New research on mice shows the brain processes aggressive behavior as it does other rewards. Mice sought violence, in fact, picking fights for no apparent reason other than the rewarding feeling. The mouse brain is thought to be analogous to the human brain in this study, which could shed light on our fascination with brutal sports as well as our own penchant for the classic bar brawl. In fact, the researcher say, humans seem to crave violence just like they do sex, food or drugs. Love to fight Scientists have known that mice and other animals are drawn to fights. Until now, they didn't know how the brain was involved. The new study, detailed online this week in the journal Psychopharmacology, reveals the same clusters of brain cells involved in other rewards are also behind the craving for violence. "Aggression occurs among virtually all vertebrates and is necessary to get and keep important resources such as mates, territory and food," said study team member Craig Kennedy, professor of special education and pediatrics at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. "We have found that the reward pathway in the brain becomes engaged in response to an aggressive event and that dopamine is involved." Mouse brawl For the experiments, the researchers placed a pair of mice, one male and one female, in a cage. Then the female was removed and a so-called male intruder mouse entered the cage. That triggered aggressive behavior in the resident male. The tell-tale signs of aggression included tail rattle, an aggressive sideways stance, boxing and biting. After the initial scuffle ended, the resident male mouse was trained to nose-poke a target to get the intruder to return. Results showed the home mouse consistently poked the target and fought with the introduced mouse, indicating, the researchers say, that the aggressive encounter was seen as a reward. "We learned from these experiments that an individual will intentionally seek out an aggressive encounter solely because they experience a rewarding sensation from it," Kennedy said. To figure out whether the brain's reward pathway was involved, the scientists treated the home mice with a drug to block dopamine in certain parts of the brain known to be involved in rewards like food and drugs. The treated mice were less likely to instigate the intruder's entry. "This shows for the first time that aggression, on its own, is motivating, and that the well-known positive reinforcer dopamine plays a critical role," Kennedy said. Human violence Kennedy explained that the experiments have implications for humans. The reward pathway in the brains of humans and mice are very similar, he said. "Aggression is highly conserved in vertebrates in general and particularly in mammals," Kennedy told LiveScience. "Almost all mammals are aggressive in some way or another." He added, "It serves a really useful evolutionary role probably, which is you defend territory; you defend your mate; if you're a female, you defend your offspring." Even though it served a purpose for other animals, in modern human societies, Kennedy said, a propensity toward aggression is not beneficial and can be a problem. Copyright © 2008 Imaginova Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

To: one_less who wrote (254396)	1/17/2008 4:37:45 PM
From: Ruffian	Respond to of 281500

Great News!! Lockheed Martin given F-22 reprieve By Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington Published: January 17 2008 02:00 \| Last updated: January 17 2008 02:34 The Pentagon will next month ask Congress for money to buy additional F-22 fighter jets, postponing the scheduled closure of the Lockheed Martin production line for the stealth aircraft. Gordon England, deputy defence secretary, told Congress the Pentagon would request money for the F-22s, or Raptors, to replace other fighter aircraft lost in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a letter obtained by the Financial Times. EDITOR’S CHOICE US will push ahead with arms sale to Saudi Arabia - Jan-13 Kitty Hawk’s Taiwan passage angers Beijing - Dec-04 China bars another US ship from HK - Nov-30 Japan refusal adds to US-China carrier spat - Nov-30 US-China ties strained by Kitty Hawk spat - Nov-29 USS Kitty Hawk left at sea for Thanksgiving - Nov-21 Lockheed Martin, which runs the more than $60bn (€40.5bn, £30.5bn) programme to manufacture the fifth-generation advanced fighter jet, is due to supply the Air Force with 183 jets under a plan that would see production of the fighter cease in 2011. Inside the Pentagon, however, the Air Force has been arguing that it needs 381 Raptors for future needs, including maintaining defences against stealth aircraft being built by China and Russia. Mr England has consistently opposed procuring more than the planned 183 jets. Last week, in a high-level meeting attended by Robert Gates, defence secretary, he came under criticism from the Air Force, according to several people familiar with the debate. Geoff Morrell, Pentagon press secretary, said Mr Gates agreed to ask Congress for permission to use $500m that would have been used to close the line to pay for a “modest” increase of four Raptors. He added that the move did not herald a large additional purchase, but noted that the Air Force would see the move “as a lifeline” since the production line would remain open. “They will live to fight another day,” said Mr Morrell. In his letter, Mr England reiterated his view that ”investing in fifth-generation fighters for all three [military] services by buying the more modern F-35 provides more effective capability...than concentrating investments in a single service by buying more F-22s.” But Loren Thompson, a defence expert at the Lexington Institute who has close ties to the Air Force, said the decision to buy more F-22s reflected a shift in the Pentagon away from Mr England’s position towards the Air Force. “The deputy secretary is fighting hard to prevent continuing production of the F-22,” said Mr Thompson. “But he seems to be losing the battle both inside the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill.” In December, 28 senators signed a letter expressing support for keeping the production line open, and allowing the Air Force to buy more F-22s. They cited three classified studies which, they said, concluded that the Pentagon needed to procure at least 220 Raptors. Mr Thompson said the combination of those studies with the recent grounding of a significant portion of the Air Force’s fleet of aging F-15 fighters has made it more difficult for Mr England to oppose the Air Force. “While this recent decision to continue the production line past the...purchase of 183 aircraft does not guarantee that the Air Force will get the full buy of 381 F-22s, it is a critical first step in keeping that option on the table for the next administration,” said Doug Birkey, deputy director of government affairs at the Air Force Association. Tom Jurkowsky, spokesman for Lockheed Martin, said Lockheed was unaware of the planned request, but said the company would “welcome the opportunity” to build more of the advanced fighter.