Gene–gene effects on central processing of aversive stimuli

摘要: Emotional reactivity and regulation are fundamental to human behavior. As inter-individual behavioral variation is affected by a multitude of different genes, there intense interest investigate gene–gene effects. Functional sequence at two genes has been associated with response resiliency emotionally unpleasant stimuli. These the catechol-O-methyltransferase gene (COMT Val158Met) regulatory region (5-HTTLPR) serotonin transporter gene. Recently, it proposed that 5-HTT expression not only common S/L variant 5-HTTLPR but also an A G substitution. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we assessed effects COMT Val158Met both genotypes on brain activation standardized affective visual stimuli (unpleasant, pleasant, neutral) in 48 healthy subjects. Based previous studies, analysis genotype was restricted limbic areas. To determine allele-dose effects, number Met158 alleles (i.e., lower activity COMT) low expressing (S G) correlated blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) pleasant or compared neutral We observed additive effect polymorphisms, accounting for 40% variance averaged BOLD amygdala, hippocampal cortical regions elicited Effects did affect processing data indicate imaging may be used assess interaction multiple function neuronal networks.