title: The relationship between reward and punishment processing and the 5-HT1A receptor as shown by PET.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The serotonin (5-HT) system has been reported to be involved in decision-making. A key component of this neurotransmitter system is the 5-HT1A receptor, and research is beginning to show how this receptor can influence decision-making. However, this relationship has rarely been studied in humans.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study assessed whether individual variability in 5-HT1A availability correlates with decision-making in healthy volunteers.
  
  
  METHODS
  We measured regional availability of the 5-HT1A receptor in the hippocampal complex and striatum using positron emission tomography and correlated this with performance on two decision-making tasks measuring sensitivity to probability, rewards and punishments and temporal discounting, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No relationship between decision-making behaviour and 5-HT1A availability in the striatum was found. However, a positive correlation was detected between participants' 5-HT1A availability in the hippocampal complex and their sensitivity to the probability of winning. Furthermore, there was a negative correlation between the degree to which participants discounted future rewards and 5-HT1A availability in the hippocampal complex.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data support a role for the 5-HT1A receptor in the aberrant decision-making that can occur in neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, 17 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3AR, UK, paul.faulkner.86@googlemail.com.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Faulkner
authors.forename: Sudhakar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Selvaraj
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pine
authors.forename: Oliver D
authors.initials: OD
authors.lastname: Howes
authors.forename: Jonathan P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Roiser
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000378:metabolism; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D065786:Delay Discounting / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods; D011336:Probability; D011678:Punishment / Q000523:psychology*; D044282:Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT1A / Q000378:metabolism*; D012201:Reward
chemical_list: D044282:Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT1A