The Scripps Research Institute Scientists Discover Chemical Triggers for Aggression in Mice

The work, reported in an advance, online issue of the journal Nature on December 6, 2007, furthers the broad and important goal of elucidating how the neurological system can detect and respond to specific cues in of a sea of potential triggers.“These results are a really exciting starting place for us to understand how pheromones and the brain can shape behavior,” says team leader Lisa Stowers of the Scripps Research Department of Cell Biology.Pheromones are chemical cues that are released into the air, secreted from glands, or excreted in urine and picked up by animals of the same species, initiating various social and reproductive behaviors.

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