Neural and behavioral responses to threatening emotion faces in children as a function of the short allele of the serotonin transporter gene.
Recent evidence suggests that a genetic polymorphism in the promoter region (5-HTTLPR) of the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) mediates stress reactivity in adults. Little is known, however, about this gene-brain association in childhood and adolescence, generally conceptualized as a time of heightened stress reactivity. The present study examines the association between 5-HTTLPR allelic variation and responses to fearful and angry faces presented both sub- and supraliminally in participants, ages 9-17. Behaviorally, carriers of the 5-HTTLPR short (s) allele exhibited significantly greater attentional bias to subliminally presented fear faces than did their long (l)-allele homozygous counterparts. Moreover, s-allele carriers showed greater neural activations to fearful and angry faces than did l-allele homozygotes in various regions of association cortex previously linked to attention control in adults. These results indicate that in children and adolescents, s-allele carriers can be distinguished from l-allele homozygotes on the basis of hypervigilant behavioral and neural processing of negative material.
Thomason
Moriah E
ME
Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. moriah@stanford.edu
Henry
Melissa L
ML
Paul Hamilton
J
J
Joormann
Jutta
J
Pine
Daniel S
DS
Ernst
Monique
M
Goldman
David
D
Mogg
Karin
K
Bradley
Brendan P
BP
Britton
Jennifer C
JC
Lindstrom
Kara M
KM
Monk
Christopher S
CS
Sankin
Lindsey S
LS
Louro
Hugo M C
HM
Gotlib
Ian H
IH
D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002648:Child; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005145:Face; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology
D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D010100:Oxygen