Linked Life Data

18925984

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/18925984

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
3
pubmed:dateCreated
2009-3-12
pubmed:abstractText
Genetic variation of the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) has been associated with fear- and anxiety-related behaviours. The amygdala is considered crucial in emotional modulation and stronger amygdala reactivity in response to fearful stimuli has been found in carriers of the short (S) allele of the 5-HTT gene in imaging studies. Additionally, reactivity of amygdala-innervated effectory systems is also of particular interest. We recently reported the impact of a functional polymorphism in the transcriptional control region of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) on the acoustic startle reflex. Here, we attempted to replicate and extend these findings. Startle magnitudes to intense noise bursts as measured with the eyeblink response were recorded in 106 healthy volunteers during baseline without additional stimulation and while they viewed pictures of three valence conditions: unpleasant, pleasant and neutral. Subjects were genotyped for the tri-allelic functional polymorphism 5-HTTLPR. In replication of our previous findings we found that carriers of the low-expressing S or LG alleles exhibited stronger overall startle responses across conditions than LA/LA homozygotes, while there were no differences in emotional startle modulation between the two genetic groups. In addition, we found that the recent experience of stressful life events resulted in overall higher startle responses and less startle habituation across blocks. The results replicate and emphasize the role of 5-HTTLPR and stress on the overall startle response as a possible genetically driven endophenotype for anxiety-related behaviour.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Apr
pubmed:issn
1469-5111
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Electronic
pubmed:volume
12
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
393-401
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2009
pubmed:articleTitle
Serotonin transporter gene variation and stressful life events impact processing of fear and anxiety.
pubmed:affiliation
Institute of Psychology II, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany. armbruster@psychologie.tu-dresden.de
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't