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The effects of DAT1 genotype on fMRI activation in an emotional go/no-go task

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Abstract

Dopaminergic brain circuits participate in emotional processing and impulsivity. The dopamine transporter (DAT) modulates dopamine reuptake. A variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) in the dopamine transporter gene (DAT1) affects DAT expression. The influence of DAT1 genotype on neural activation during emotional processing and impulse inhibition has not been examined. Forty-two healthy subjects were classified as 9DAT (n = 17) or 10DAT (n = 25) based on DAT1 genotype (9DAT = 9R/9R and 9R/10R; 10DAT = 10R/10R). Subjects underwent fMRI during non-emotional and emotional go/no-go tasks. Subjects were instructed to inhibit responses to letters, happy faces, or sad faces in separate blocks. Accuracy and reaction time did not differ between groups. Within group results showed activation in regions previously implicated in emotional processing and response inhibition. Between groups results showed increased activation in 9DAT individuals during inhibition. During letter inhibition, 9DAT individuals exhibited greater activation in right inferior parietal regions. During sad inhibition, 9DAT Individuals exhibited greater activation in frontal, posterior cingulate, precuneus, right cerebellar, left paracentral, and right occipital brain regions. The interaction between DAT genotype and response type in sad versus letter stimuli showed increased activation in 9DAT individuals during sad no-go responses in the anterior cingulate cortex, extending into frontal-orbital regions. 9DAT individuals have greater activation than 10DAT individuals during neutral and sad inhibition, showing that genotypic variation influencing basal dopamine levels can alter the neural basis of emotional processing and response inhibition. This may indicate that 9R carriers exert more effort to overcome increased basal dopamine activation when inhibiting responses in emotional contexts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Brenna K. Brown

  2. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA

    Jill Murrell

  3. Center for Behavioral Health, Cleveland Clinic, 9500 Euclid Avenue P57, Cleveland, OH, 44122, USA

    Harish Karne & Amit Anand

Authors
  1. Brenna K. Brown
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  2. Jill Murrell
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  3. Harish Karne
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  4. Amit Anand
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Correspondence to Amit Anand.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Funding

This project was funded by the NIMH to AA (R01MH075025).

Conflict of interest

None of the authors have any conflicts of interest related to this report.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Brown, B.K., Murrell, J., Karne, H. et al. The effects of DAT1 genotype on fMRI activation in an emotional go/no-go task. Brain Imaging and Behavior 11, 185–193 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-016-9516-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-016-9516-7

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