Relationship of the serotonin transporter gene promoter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) genotype and serotonin transporter binding to neural processing of negative emotional stimuli.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The lower-expressing (S') alleles of the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene promoter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) are linked to mood and anxiety related psychopathology. However, the specific neural mechanism through which these alleles may influence emotional and cognitive processing remains unknown. We examined the relationship between both 5-HTTLPR genotype and in vivo 5-HTT binding quantified via PET with amygdala reactivity to emotionally negative stimuli. We hypothesized that 5-HTT binding in both raphe nuclei (RN) and amygdala would be inversely correlated with amygdala reactivity, and that number of S' alleles would correlate positively with amygdala reactivity.

Methods

In medication-free patients with current major depressive disorder (MDD; N=21), we determine

SUBMITTER: Schneck N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5021308 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature