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

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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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Author notes

  1. Andreas Heinz, Dieter F Braus and Michael N Smolka: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Campus Charité Mitte, Schumannstr. 20-21, Berlin, 10117, Germany

    Andreas Heinz, Jana Wrase & Imke Puls

  2. Department of Psychiatry, NeuroImage Nord, University Medical Center, Martinistr. 52, Hamburg, 20246, Germany

    Dieter F Braus

  3. Central Institute of Mental Health, J5, Mannheim, 68159, Germany

    Michael N Smolka, Derik Hermann, Sabine Klein, Herta Flor, Gunter Schumann & Karl Mann

  4. Department of Medical Psychology, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Campus Charité Mitte, Schumannstr. 20-21, Berlin, 10117, Germany

    Sabine M Grüsser

  5. Department of Neurology, NeuroImage Nord, University Medical Center, Martinistr. 52, Hamburg, 20246, Germany

    Christian Büchel

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  1. Andreas Heinz
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  2. Dieter F Braus
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  3. Michael N Smolka
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  4. Jana Wrase
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  7. Sabine Klein
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  8. Sabine M Grüsser
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  9. Herta Flor
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Corresponding author

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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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1366

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