title: Genetics of emotion.
abstract: Emotion is critical to most aspects of human behavior, and individual differences in systems recruited to process emotional stimuli, expressed as variation in emotionality, are characteristic of several neuropsychiatric disorders. We examine the genetic origins of individual differences in emotion processing by focusing on functional variants at five genes: catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), serotonin transporter (SLC6A4), neuropeptide Y (NPY), a glucocorticoid receptor-regulating co-chaperone of stress proteins (FKBP5) and pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide receptor (ADCYAP1R1). These represent a range of effects of genes on emotion as well as the variety of mechanisms and factors, such as stress, that modify these effects. The new genomic era of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and deep sequencing may yield a wealth of new loci modulating emotion. The effects of these genes can be validated by neuroimaging, neuroendocrine and other studies accessing intermediate phenotypes, deepening our understanding of mechanisms of emotion and variation in emotionality.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neurogenetics, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, Rockville, MD 20852, USA.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bevilacqua
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Goldman
mesh_terms: D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase / Q000235:genetics; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D005823:Genetics; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D006801:Humans; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000235:genetics*; D059906:Neuroimaging; D009478:Neuropeptide Y / Q000235:genetics; D051237:Receptors, Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating Polypeptide, Type I / Q000235:genetics; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D022021:Tacrolimus Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D000099159:Tacrolimus Binding Protein 5
chemical_list: D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase; D009478:Neuropeptide Y; D051237:Receptors, Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating Polypeptide, Type I; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D022021:Tacrolimus Binding Proteins; D000099159:Tacrolimus Binding Protein 5; C495503:ADCYAP1R1 protein, human; C493230:SLC6A4 protein, human