@article{ref1,
title="Brain serotonin synthesis in adult males characterized by physical aggression during childhood: a 21-year longitudinal study",
journal="PLoS one",
year="2010",
author="Booij, Linda and Tremblay, Richard E. and Leyton, Marco and Seguin, Jean R. and Vitaro, Frank and Gravel, Paul and Perreau-Linck, Elisabeth and Lévesque, Melissa L. and Durand, France and Diksic, Mirko and Turecki, Gustavo and Benkelfat, Chawki",
volume="5",
number="6",
pages="e11255-e11255",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Adults exhibiting severe impulsive and aggressive behaviors have multiple indices of low serotonin (5-HT) neurotransmission. It remains unclear though whether low 5-HT mediates the behavior or instead reflects a pre-existing vulnerability trait. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In the present study, positron emission tomography with the tracer alpha-(11)Cmethyl-L-tryptophan ((11)C-AMT) was used to compare 5-HT synthesis capacity in two groups of adult males from a 21-year longitudinal study (mean age +/- SD: 27.1+/-0.7): individuals with a history of childhood-limited high physical aggression (C-LHPA; N = 8) and individuals with normal (low) patterns of physical aggression (LPA; N = 18). The C-LHPA males had significantly lower trapping of (11)C-AMT bilaterally in the orbitofrontal cortex and self-reported more impulsiveness. Despite this, in adulthood there were no group differences in plasma tryptophan levels, genotyping, aggression, emotional intelligence, working memory, computerized measures of impulsivity, psychosocial functioning/adjustment, and personal and family history of mood and substance abuse disorders. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These results force a re-examination of the low 5-HT hypothesis as central in the biology of violence. They suggest that low 5-HT does not mediate current behavior and should be considered a vulnerability factor for impulsive-aggressive behavior that may or may not be expressed depending on other biological factors, experience, and environmental support during development.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1932-6203",
doi="10.1371/journal.pone.0011255",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0011255"
}