Aleman André, Swart Marte, van Rijn Sophie
BCN Neuroimaging Center, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
Biol Psychol. 2008 Sep;79(1):58-69. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2008.01.009. Epub 2008 Feb 2.
This paper reviews the published evidence on genetically driven variation in neurotransmitter function and brain circuits involved in emotion. Several studies point to a role of the serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism in amygdala activation during emotion perception. We also discuss other polymorphisms (e.g. the COMT val158met polymorphism, tryptophan hydroxylase-2 -703 G/T) and putative effects on affective processing in cortical and limbic regions. A different line of research concerns studies with genetic disorders. Although at a less fine-grained level, studies with individuals with aneuploidies of the X chromosome (Turner syndrome and Klinefelter syndrome), who display impairments in emotion processing, have resulted in new insights and hypotheses with regard to X chromosomal influences on brain systems supporting cognition and emotion. These have also implicated a key role for the amygdala. Integration of the emerging evidence, suggests that the study of polymorphisms using brain imaging can potentially elucidate biological pathways and mechanisms contributing to individual differences in brain circuits that may bias behavior and affect risk for psychiatric illness.
本文综述了已发表的关于基因驱动的神经递质功能变异以及参与情绪的脑回路的证据。多项研究指出，血清素转运体启动子多态性在情绪感知过程中杏仁核激活方面发挥作用。我们还讨论了其他多态性（例如儿茶酚-O-甲基转移酶val158met多态性、色氨酸羟化酶-2 -703 G/T）以及对皮质和边缘区域情感加工的假定影响。另一系列研究涉及对遗传疾病的研究。尽管在较粗略的层面上，对患有X染色体非整倍体（特纳综合征和克兰费尔特综合征）的个体进行的研究显示他们在情绪加工方面存在缺陷，但这些研究在X染色体对支持认知和情绪的脑系统的影响方面带来了新的见解和假设。这些研究也表明杏仁核起着关键作用。整合新出现的证据表明，利用脑成像研究多态性有可能阐明导致脑回路个体差异的生物学途径和机制，这些差异可能会使行为产生偏差并影响患精神疾病的风险。
