title: A functional polymorphism of the MAOA gene is associated with neural responses to induced anger control.
abstract: Aggressiveness is highly heritable. Recent experimental work has linked individual differences in a functional polymorphism of the monoamine oxidase-A gene (MAOA) to anger-driven aggression. Other work has implicated the dorsal ACC (dACC) in cognitive-emotional control and the amygdala in emotional arousal. The present imaging genetics study investigated dACC and amygdala reactivity to induced anger control as a function of MAOA genotype. A research assistant asked 38 healthy male undergraduates to control their anger in response to an insult by a rude experimenter. Men with the low-expression allele showed increased dACC and amygdala activation after the insult, but men with the high-expression allele did not. Both dACC and amygdala activation independently mediated the relationship between MAOA genotype and self-reported anger control. Moreover, following the insult, men with the high-functioning allele showed functional decoupling between the amygdala and dACC, but men with the low-functioning allele did not. These results suggest that heightened dACC and amygdala activation and their connectivity are neuroaffective mechanisms underlying anger control in participants with the low-functioning allele of the MAOA gene.
authors.affiliation: University of New South Wales.
authors.forename: Thomas F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Denson
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dobson-Stone
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ronay
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: von Hippel
authors.forename: Mark M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Schira
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000786:Anger / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008995:Monoamine Oxidase / Q000235:genetics*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D008995:Monoamine Oxidase; D010100:Oxygen