title: Genetic variation in serotonin transporter alters resting brain function in healthy individuals.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Perfusion functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to investigate the effect of genetic variation of the human serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene (5-HTTLPR, SLC6A4) on resting brain function of healthy individuals.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-six healthy subjects, half homozygous for the 5-HTTLPR short allele (s/s group) and half homozygous for the long allele (l/l group), underwent perfusion functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging during a resting state. The two genotype groups had no psychiatric illness and were similar in age, gender, and personality scores.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with the l/l group, the s/s group showed significantly increased resting cerebral blood flow (CBF) in the amygdala and decreased CBF in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. The effect of functional modulation in these regions by 5-HTTLPR genotype cannot be accounted for by variations in brain anatomy, personality, or self-reported mood.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The 5-HTTLPR genotype alters resting brain function in emotion-related regions in healthy individuals, including the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Such alterations suggest a broad role of the 5-HTT gene in brain function that may be associated with the genetic susceptibility for mood disorders such as depression.
authors.affiliation: Center for Functional Neuroimaging, Department of Neurology and Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. hengyi@mail.med.upenn.edu
authors.forename: Hengyi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.forename: Seth J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Gillihan
authors.forename: Jiongjiong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Korczykowski
authors.forename: Geena Mary V
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Sankoorikal
authors.forename: Kristin A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Kaercher
authors.forename: Edward S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Brodkin
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Detre
authors.forename: Martha J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Farah
mesh_terms: D000679:Amygdala / Q000503:physiopathology; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D014644:Genetic Variation / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology; D012039:Regional Blood Flow / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: C493230:SLC6A4 protein, human; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins