title: The genetic blueprint of major depressive disorder: contributions of imaging genetics studies.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To review neuroimaging intermediate phenotypes of MDD and their relation to genetic risk variants.
  
  
  METHODS
  A systematic literature search of peer-reviewed English language articels using PubMed ( www.pubmed.org ) was performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Comprehensive evidence on the influence of serotonergic genes (SLC6A4, HTR1A, MAOA, TPH2) and BDNF on the following neural intermediate phenotypes is displayed: amygdala reactivity, coupling of amygdala-anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) activity, ACC volume, hippocampal volume and serotonin receptor 1A (5-HT1A) binding potential (BP).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Intermediate phenotypes may bridge the gap between genotype and phenotype by reducing the impreciseness of psychiatric phenotypes and yield more insights into the underlying biology.
authors.affiliation: Division of Biological Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Scharinger
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Rabl
authors.forename: Lukas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pezawas
authors.forename: Siegfried
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kasper
mesh_terms: D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D059906:Neuroimaging / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*