Elsevier

Neuroscience Letters

Volume 362, Issue 3, 27 May 2004, Pages 189-192
Neuroscience Letters

Serotonin transporter polymorphism related to amygdala excitability and symptom severity in patients with social phobia

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2004.02.070Get rights and content

Abstract

A functional polymorphism in the promoter region of the human serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene has been related to negative affect and amygdala activity. We studied amygdala activation during social anxiety provocation in relation to affective ratings and 5-HTT genetic variation. [H2 15O]positron emission tomography was used to estimate amygdala blood flow during private and public speaking (baseline and anxiety conditions) in 17 patients with social phobia. Genotyping identified patients with long and short alleles in the promoter region of the 5-HTT. Individuals with one or two copies of the short allele exhibited significantly increased levels of anxiety-related traits, state anxiety, and enhanced right amygdala responding to anxiety provocation, compared with subjects homozygous for the long allele. Thus, 5-HTT genetic variation was associated with symptom severity and amygdala excitability in social phobia.

Section snippets

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by grants from the Swedish Research Council (M.F., T.F., L.O.), the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation (M.F.), and the Swedish Brain Foundation (T.F., H.G.).

References (20)

  • K Ohara et al.

    Functional polymorphism in the serotonin transporter promoter at the SLC6A4 locus and mood disorders

    Biol. Psychiatry

    (1998)

  • Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

    (1994)
  • A.T Beck et al.

    An inventory for measuring clinical anxiety: psychometric properties

    J. Consult. Clin. Psychol.

    (1988)
  • A Caspi et al.

    Influence of life stress on depression: moderation by a polymorphism in the 5-HTT gene

    Science

    (2003)
  • P.T Costa et al.

    The NEO Personality Inventory Manual

    (1985)
  • H Fischer et al.

    Dispositional pessimism and amygdala activity: a PET study in healthy volunteers

    NeuroReport

    (2001)
  • J.D Flory et al.

    Neuroticism is not associated with the serotonin transporter (5-HTTLPR) polymorphism

    Mol. Psychiatry

    (1999)
  • H Garpenstrand et al.

    Human fear conditioning is related to dopaminergic and serotonergic biological markers

    Behav. Neurosci.

    (2001)
  • F.G Graeff

    On serotonin and experimental anxiety

    Psychopharmacology

    (2002)
  • B.D Greenberg et al.

    Association between the serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism and personality traits in a primarily female population sample

    Am. J. Med. Genet.

    (2000)
There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (0)

View full text
Copyright © 2004 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.