Hahn Andreas, Reed Murray B, Murgaš Matej, Vraka Chrysoula, Klug Sebastian, Schmidt Clemens, Godbersen Godber M, Eggerstorfer Benjamin, Gomola David, Silberbauer Leo R, Nics Lukas, Philippe Cécile, Hacker Marcus, Lanzenberger Rupert
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Comprehensive Center for Clinical Neurosciences and Mental Health (C3NMH), Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Mol Psychiatry. 2025 Feb;30(2):600-607. doi: 10.1038/s41380-024-02696-1. Epub 2024 Aug 23.
Serotonin (5-HT) plays an essential role in reward processing, however, the possibilities to investigate 5-HT action in humans during emotional stimulation are particularly limited. Here we demonstrate the feasibility of assessing reward-specific dynamics in 5-HT synthesis using functional PET (fPET), combining its molecular specificity with the high temporal resolution of blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) fMRI. Sixteen healthy volunteers underwent simultaneous fPET/fMRI with the radioligand [C]AMT, a substrate for tryptophan hydroxylase. During the scan, participants completed the monetary incentive delay task and arterial blood samples were acquired for quantifying 5-HT synthesis rates. BOLD fMRI was recorded as a proxy of neuronal activation, allowing differentiation of reward anticipation and feedback. Monetary gain and loss resulted in substantial increases in 5-HT synthesis in the ventral striatum (VStr, +21% from baseline) and the anterior insula (+41%). In the VStr, task-specific 5-HT synthesis was further correlated with BOLD signal changes during reward feedback (ρ = -0.65), but not anticipation. Conversely, 5-HT synthesis in the anterior insula correlated with BOLD reward anticipation (ρ = -0.61), but not feedback. In sum, we provide a robust tool to identify task-induced changes in 5-HT action in humans, linking the dynamics of 5-HT synthesis to distinct phases of reward processing in a regionally specific manner. Given the relevance of altered reward processing in psychiatric disorders such as addiction, depression and schizophrenia, our approach offers a tailored assessment of impaired 5-HT signaling during cognitive and emotional processing.
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