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The Journal of Neuroscience, May 13, 2009, 29(19):6229-6233; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0896-09.2009

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Brief Communications
Frontal-Limbic White Matter Pathway Associations with the Serotonin Transporter Gene Promoter Region (5-HTTLPR) Polymorphism

Jennifer Pacheco,¹ Christopher G. Beevers,¹ Cristina Benavides,¹ John McGeary,^2,3 Eric Stice,¹ and David M. Schnyer¹

¹Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, ²Research Service, Providence Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Providence, Rhode Island 02908, and ³Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912

Correspondence should be addressed to Jennifer Pacheco, Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station A8000, Austin, TX 78712. Email: jpacheco{at}mail.utexas.edu

Variation in the serotonin transporter gene-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) has been associated with heightened neural activity in limbic and prefrontal regions in response to emotional stimuli. The current study examined whether the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism is also associated with alterations in microstructure of frontal-limbic white matter (WM) tracts. Thirty-seven (mean age, 20.51 years; range, 13–28) female participants were genotyped for the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism. Diffusion MRI was collected and a probabilistically defined tract of the uncinate fasciculus (UF), a WM pathway connecting the amygdala to medial and orbital prefrontal cortex, was used to generate fractional anisotropy (FA) values for participants. Regression analyses indicated a significant inverse association between number of low-expressing 5-HTTLPR alleles and FA values for the left frontal UF region, β = – 0.42, p = 0.005. Furthermore, there was a positive association between age and FA values for bilateral frontal regions of the UF; these effects explained 39 and 20% of the variance in FA values for left and right frontal regions, respectively. 5-HTTLPR genotype and age appear to independently influence the WM microstructure of the UF. The observed reduction in FA values among low-expressing 5-HTTLPR allele carriers may contribute to biased regulation of emotional stimuli.

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Received Feb. 20, 2009; revised March 26, 2009; accepted March 30, 2009.

Correspondence should be addressed to Jennifer Pacheco, Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station A8000, Austin, TX 78712. Email: jpacheco{at}mail.utexas.edu

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Impact of the Tri-Allelic Serotonin Transporter Polymorphism on the White-Matter Tract Connecting the Amygdala and the Prefrontal Cortex

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J. Neurosci. 2009 29: 10461-10462. [Full Text]  

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