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PMID: 16869228 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Review

Neuroimaging studies of serotonin gene polymorphisms: exploring the interplay of genes, brain, and behavior.

Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience ·Vol. 6 ·No. 1 ·2006-03-00 ·Pages 44-52

Brown SM, Hariri AR

Abstract

Because of the unique ability it provides to investigate information processing at the level of neural systems, functional neuroimaging is a powerful tool to explore the relationship between genes, brain, and behavior. Recently, functional neuroimaging has provided dramatic illustrations of how a promoter polymorphism in the human serotonin transporter gene, which has been weakly related to several dimensions of emotional behaviors (such as neuroticism and anxiety traits), is strongly related to the engagement of neural systems--namely, the amygdala and subgenual prefrontal cortex, subserving emotional information processing. This review will outline the experimental strategy by which these genetic effects on brain function have been explored and highlight the effectiveness of this strategy to delineate biological pathways and mechanisms contributing to the emergence of individual differences in brain function that potentially bias behavior and risk for psychiatric illness.

MeSH Terms
Animals Behavior/physiology Brain/anatomy & histology,physiology Brain Mapping Diagnostic Imaging/methods Emotions/physiology Humans Nerve Net Polymorphism, Genetic Serotonin/genetics
Chemicals
Serotonin
Authors & Affiliations
2 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Brown Sarah M
Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, 3811 O'Hara Street, Room E-729, Pittsburgh, PA 15213-2593, USA.
Hariri Ahmad R
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Article Info
Journal
Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience
Abbr.
Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci
ISSN
1530-7026
DOI
10.3758/cabn.6.1.44
Published
2006-03-00
Pages
44-52
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
101083946
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.3758/cabn.6.1.44 View journal details
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