Serotonergic Contributions to Human Brain Aggression Networks
Aggressive behavior is associated with dysfunctional frontolimbic emotion regulation circuits. Recent findings suggest serotonin as a primary transmitter for prefrontal amygdala control. However, the association between serotonin levels, amygdala regulation, and aggression is still a matter of debat...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2019-02-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnins.2019.00042/full |
| _version_ | 1819017104296247296 |
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| author | Martin Klasen Martin Klasen Dhana Wolf Dhana Wolf Patrick D. Eisner Patrick D. Eisner Thomas Eggermann Klaus Zerres Florian D. Zepf Florian D. Zepf Florian D. Zepf René Weber Klaus Mathiak Klaus Mathiak |
| author_facet | Martin Klasen Martin Klasen Dhana Wolf Dhana Wolf Patrick D. Eisner Patrick D. Eisner Thomas Eggermann Klaus Zerres Florian D. Zepf Florian D. Zepf Florian D. Zepf René Weber Klaus Mathiak Klaus Mathiak |
| author_sort | Martin Klasen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Aggressive behavior is associated with dysfunctional frontolimbic emotion regulation circuits. Recent findings suggest serotonin as a primary transmitter for prefrontal amygdala control. However, the association between serotonin levels, amygdala regulation, and aggression is still a matter of debate. Neurobehavioral models furthermore suggest a possible mediating influence of the monoamine oxidase A gene (MAOA) on this brain-behavior relationship, with carriers of low expressing allele varieties being a risk group for aggression. In the present study, we investigated the influence of brain serotonin modulation and MAOA genotype on functional amygdala connectivity during aggressive behavior. Modulation of serotonergic neurotransmission with acute tryptophan depletion (ATD) and placebo were administered in a double-blind, cross-over design in 38 healthy male participants. Aggressive behavior was modeled in a violent video game during simultaneous assessment of brain activation with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Trait aggression was measured with the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BP-AQ), and MAOA genotypes were assessed from blood samples. Voxel-wise functional connectivity with anatomically defined amygdala was calculated from the functional data. Tryptophan depletion with ATD reduced aggression-specific amygdala connectivity with bilateral supramarginal gyrus. Moreover, ATD impact was associated with trait aggression and MAOA genotype in prefrontal cortex regions. In summary, serotonergic corticolimbic projections contribute to aggressive behavior. Genotype-specific vulnerability of frontolimbic projections may underlie the elevated risk in low expressing allele carriers. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T02:58:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ad3c0a8abc574d0cb3d9e4b692431261 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-453X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T02:58:13Z |
| publishDate | 2019-02-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-ad3c0a8abc574d0cb3d9e4b6924312612022-12-21T19:18:16ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neuroscience1662-453X2019-02-011310.3389/fnins.2019.00042433521Serotonergic Contributions to Human Brain Aggression NetworksMartin Klasen0Martin Klasen1Dhana Wolf2Dhana Wolf3Patrick D. Eisner4Patrick D. Eisner5Thomas Eggermann6Klaus Zerres7Florian D. Zepf8Florian D. Zepf9Florian D. Zepf10René Weber11Klaus Mathiak12Klaus Mathiak13Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen, Aachen, GermanyJARA – Translational Brain Medicine, Aachen, GermanyDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen, Aachen, GermanyJARA – Translational Brain Medicine, Aachen, GermanyDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen, Aachen, GermanyJARA – Translational Brain Medicine, Aachen, GermanyInstitute of Human Genetics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, GermanyInstitute of Human Genetics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, GermanyDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, GermanyCentre and Discipline of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Division of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences and Division of Paediatrics and Child Health, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, AustraliaTelethon Kids Institute, Perth, WA, AustraliaMedia Neuroscience Lab, Department of Communication, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United StatesDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen, Aachen, GermanyJARA – Translational Brain Medicine, Aachen, GermanyAggressive behavior is associated with dysfunctional frontolimbic emotion regulation circuits. Recent findings suggest serotonin as a primary transmitter for prefrontal amygdala control. However, the association between serotonin levels, amygdala regulation, and aggression is still a matter of debate. Neurobehavioral models furthermore suggest a possible mediating influence of the monoamine oxidase A gene (MAOA) on this brain-behavior relationship, with carriers of low expressing allele varieties being a risk group for aggression. In the present study, we investigated the influence of brain serotonin modulation and MAOA genotype on functional amygdala connectivity during aggressive behavior. Modulation of serotonergic neurotransmission with acute tryptophan depletion (ATD) and placebo were administered in a double-blind, cross-over design in 38 healthy male participants. Aggressive behavior was modeled in a violent video game during simultaneous assessment of brain activation with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Trait aggression was measured with the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BP-AQ), and MAOA genotypes were assessed from blood samples. Voxel-wise functional connectivity with anatomically defined amygdala was calculated from the functional data. Tryptophan depletion with ATD reduced aggression-specific amygdala connectivity with bilateral supramarginal gyrus. Moreover, ATD impact was associated with trait aggression and MAOA genotype in prefrontal cortex regions. In summary, serotonergic corticolimbic projections contribute to aggressive behavior. Genotype-specific vulnerability of frontolimbic projections may underlie the elevated risk in low expressing allele carriers.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnins.2019.00042/fullserotoninaggressionamygdalatryptophan depletionPFCsupramarginal gyrus |
| spellingShingle | Martin Klasen Martin Klasen Dhana Wolf Dhana Wolf Patrick D. Eisner Patrick D. Eisner Thomas Eggermann Klaus Zerres Florian D. Zepf Florian D. Zepf Florian D. Zepf René Weber Klaus Mathiak Klaus Mathiak Serotonergic Contributions to Human Brain Aggression Networks Frontiers in Neuroscience serotonin aggression amygdala tryptophan depletion PFC supramarginal gyrus |
| title | Serotonergic Contributions to Human Brain Aggression Networks |
| title_full | Serotonergic Contributions to Human Brain Aggression Networks |
| title_fullStr | Serotonergic Contributions to Human Brain Aggression Networks |
| title_full_unstemmed | Serotonergic Contributions to Human Brain Aggression Networks |
| title_short | Serotonergic Contributions to Human Brain Aggression Networks |
| title_sort | serotonergic contributions to human brain aggression networks |
| topic | serotonin aggression amygdala tryptophan depletion PFC supramarginal gyrus |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnins.2019.00042/full |
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