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Amygdala-prefrontal coupling depends on a genetic variation of the serotonin transporter

Abstract

Major depression is conditionally linked to a polymorphism of the human serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4). During the presentation of aversive, but not pleasant, pictures, healthy carriers of the SLC6A4 short (s) allele showed stronger activation of the amygdala on functional magnetic resonance imaging. s carriers also showed greater coupling between the amygdala and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, which may contribute to the abnormally high activity in the amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex seen in major depression.

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Figure 1: Serotonin transporter genotype effects on amygdala activation and coupling with ventromedial prefrontal cortex.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (He 2597/4-2) and the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (01GQ0411 and 01GS0475).

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Correspondence to Andreas Heinz.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Heinz, A., Braus, D., Smolka, M. et al. Amygdala-prefrontal coupling depends on a genetic variation of the serotonin transporter. Nat Neurosci 8, 20–21 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1366

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