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The Journal of Neuroscience, May 7, 2008, 28(19):5099-5104; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0925-08.2008

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Brief Communications
Brain Monoamine Oxidase A Activity Predicts Trait Aggression

Nelly Alia-Klein,¹ Rita Z. Goldstein,¹ Aarti Kriplani,¹ Jean Logan,¹ Dardo Tomasi,¹ Benjamin Williams,² Frank Telang,⁴ Elena Shumay,¹ Anat Biegon,¹ Ian W. Craig,² Fritz Henn,¹ Gene-Jack Wang,^1,3 Nora D. Volkow,⁴ and Joanna S. Fowler^1,3

¹Medical Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, ²King's College, London WC2R 2LS, United Kingdom, ³Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York 10029, and ⁴National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Bethesda, Maryland 20892

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Nelly Alia-Klein or Dr. Joanna S. Fowler, Brookhaven National Laboratory–Medical, Building 490, Upton, NY 11973-5000. Email: nellyklein{at}bnl.gov or Email: fowler{at}bnl.gov

The genetic deletion of monoamine oxidase A (MAO A), an enzyme that breaks down the monoamine neurotransmitters norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine, produces aggressive phenotypes across species. Therefore, a common polymorphism in the MAO A gene (MAOA, Mendelian Inheritance in Men database number 309850 [OMIM] , referred to as high or low based on transcription in non-neuronal cells) has been investigated in a number of externalizing behavioral and clinical phenotypes. These studies provide evidence linking the low MAOA genotype and violent behavior but only through interaction with severe environmental stressors during childhood. Here, we hypothesized that in healthy adult males the gene product of MAO A in the brain, rather than the gene per se, would be associated with regulating the concentration of brain amines involved in trait aggression. Brain MAO A activity was measured in vivo in healthy nonsmoking men with positron emission tomography using a radioligand specific for MAO A (clorgyline labeled with carbon 11). Trait aggression was measured with the multidimensional personality questionnaire (MPQ). Here we report for the first time that brain MAO A correlates inversely with the MPQ trait measure of aggression (but not with other personality traits) such that the lower the MAO A activity in cortical and subcortical brain regions, the higher the self-reported aggression (in both MAOA genotype groups) contributing to more than one-third of the variability. Because trait aggression is a measure used to predict antisocial behavior, these results underscore the relevance of MAO A as a neurochemical substrate of aberrant aggression.

Key words: MAOA; aggression; violence; personality; clorgyline; human

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Received Jan. 7, 2008; revised March 25, 2008; accepted March 25, 2008.

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Nelly Alia-Klein or Dr. Joanna S. Fowler, Brookhaven National Laboratory–Medical, Building 490, Upton, NY 11973-5000. Email: nellyklein{at}bnl.gov or Email: fowler{at}bnl.gov

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