Department of Psychiatry, Division of Medical Psychology, University of Bonn, Germany.
Neuroimage. 2010 Nov 15;53(3):943-51. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.11.078. Epub 2009 Dec 5.
Individuals carrying the short allele of a common polymorphism in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) exhibit heightened amygdala responses to passive stimulation with aversive emotional material. In turn, the level of amygdala activation in response to emotion can be decreased by will, for example by using cognitive emotion regulation strategies. In the present study, 37 female subjects (s-carriers: n=21; l/l-homozygotes: n=16) performed an emotion regulation task during functional magnetic resonance imaging to determine whether cognitive emotion regulation can modulate the genetically determined amygdala hyperreactivity in 5-HTTLPR short allele carriers. Our results demonstrate that cognitive emotion regulation diminishes the difference in amygdala reactivity to threat-related stimuli between 5-HTTLPR genotype groups. Furthermore, we also provide evidence that the effect of cognitive regulation is mediated through altered coupling between the amygdala and prefrontal regulatory regions. Our findings demonstrate that while the presence of the 5-HTTLPR short allele leads to heightened responses in the amygdala, cognitive regulation can modify genetically mediated effects upon brain function by volitionally altering prefrontal-amygdala connectivity.
个体携带 5-羟色胺转运体基因（5-HTTLPR）启动子区域常见多态性的短等位基因，表现出对被动刺激的杏仁核反应增强，对情绪的杏仁核激活水平可以通过意志来降低，例如通过使用认知情绪调节策略。在本研究中，37 名女性受试者（s-携带者：n=21；l/l-纯合子：n=16）在功能磁共振成像期间执行情绪调节任务，以确定认知情绪调节是否可以调节 5-HTTLPR 短等位基因携带者中基因决定的杏仁核反应过度。我们的结果表明，认知情绪调节可以降低 5-HTTLPR 基因型组之间对威胁相关刺激的杏仁核反应差异。此外，我们还提供了证据表明，认知调节的作用是通过改变杏仁核和前额叶调节区域之间的耦合来介导的。我们的研究结果表明，虽然 5-HTTLPR 短等位基因的存在导致杏仁核反应增强，但认知调节可以通过自愿改变前额叶-杏仁核连接来修饰基因介导的大脑功能效应。
