@article{ref1,
title="Serotonin transporter availability in impulsive aggressive personality disordered patients: A PET study with [(11)C]DASB",
journal="Journal of psychiatric research",
year="2014",
author="van de Giessen, Elsmarieke and Rosell, Daniel R. and Thompson, Judy L. and Xu, Xiaoyan and Girgis, Ragy R. and Ehrlich, Yosefa and Slifstein, Mark and Abi-Dargham, Anissa and Siever, Larry J.",
volume="58",
number="",
pages="147-154",
abstract="Serotonin (5-HT) has consistently been implicated in the pathophysiology of impulsive aggression. In the current study, we tested the hypothesis that 5-HT transporter (5-HTT) binding is reduced in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in impulsive aggressive patients. Additionally, we characterized pathological personality dimensions, with a specific focus on callousness (i.e. emotional indifference, a facet of psychopathy). Callousness is putatively positively correlated with presynaptic 5-HT, and thus could potentially confound the hypothesized negative relation between 5-HTT levels and trait aggression. We determined 5-HTT binding with positron emission tomography and [(11)C]DASB in 29 patients with intermittent explosive disorder (IED-IR) and 30 controls. We assessed group differences in 5-HTT binding in the pregenual ACC, amygdala and subcortical regions and examined correlations between 5-HTT binding and clinical measures. There were no significant differences in 5-HTT binding between IED-IR patients and controls. Trait callousness exhibited a significant, positive correlation with ACC 5-HTT availability. Among IED-IR patients, a trend-level negative partial correlation was observed between trait aggression and ACC 5-HTT availability, while covarying for callousness and age. Exploratory analyses revealed a significant negative correlation between state aggression levels and 5-HTT availability in subcortical regions, namely striatum and thalamus. We did not confirm our hypothesis of lower ACC 5-HTT availability in impulsive aggressive patients, however, the positive correlation between callousness and ACC 5-HTT availability likely played a confounding role. Subtypes of aggression (e.g., reactive vs. proactive aggression), which are differentially associated with pathological personality dimensions such as callousness, may contribute to variability between 5-HT functioning and aggression.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0022-3956",
doi="10.1016/j.jpsychires.2014.07.025",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2014.07.025"
}