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- Bergman, Olle, 1978, et al.
(författare)
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Association between amygdala reactivity and a dopamine transporter gene polymorphism.
- 2014
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Ingår i: Translational psychiatry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2158-3188. ; 4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Essential for detection of relevant external stimuli and for fear processing, the amygdala is under modulatory influence of dopamine (DA). The DA transporter (DAT) is of fundamental importance for the regulation of DA transmission by mediating reuptake inactivation of extracellular DA. This study examined if a common functional variable number tandem repeat polymorphism in the 3' untranslated region of the DAT gene (SLC6A3) influences amygdala function during the processing of aversive emotional stimuli. Amygdala reactivity was examined by comparing regional cerebral blood flow, measured with positron emission tomography and [(15)O]water, during exposure to angry and neutral faces, respectively, in a Swedish sample comprising 32 patients with social anxiety disorder and 17 healthy volunteers. In a separate US sample, comprising 85 healthy volunteers studied with blood oxygen level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging, amygdala reactivity was assessed by comparing the activity during exposure to threatening faces and neutral geometric shapes, respectively. In both the Swedish and the US sample, 9-repeat carriers displayed higher amygdala reactivity than 10-repeat homozygotes. The results suggest that this polymorphism contributes to individual variability in amygdala reactivity.
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| 2. |
- Brown, A A, et al.
(författare)
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Genetic variants affecting the neural processing of human facial expressions : evidence using a genome-wide functional imaging approach.
- 2012
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Ingår i: Translational psychiatry. - 2158-3188. ; 2, s. e143-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Human faces present crucial visual information for social interaction. Specialized brain regions are involved in the perception of faces, with the fusiform face area (FFA) a key neuronal substrate. Face processing is genetically controlled, but by which specific genes is unknown. A genome-wide approach identified common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with areas of increased brain activity in response to affective facial expressions, measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging. SNPs in 20 genetic regions were linked with neural responses to negative facial expressions in a Norwegian sample (n=246), which included patients with mental illness. Three genetic regions were linked with FFA activation in a further discovery experiment using positive facial expressions and involving many of the same individuals (n=284). Two of these three regions showed significant association with right FFA activation to negative facial expressions in an independent North American replication sample of healthy Caucasians (n=85, 3q26.31, P=0.004; 20p12.3, P=0.045). The activation patterns were particularly striking for the SNP in 3q26.31, which lies in a gene TMEM212; only the FFA was activated. The specialized function of this brain region suggests that TMEM212 could contribute to the innate architecture of face processing.
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| 3. |
- Cervenka, Simon, et al.
(författare)
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Changes in dopamine D2-receptor binding are associated to symptom reduction after psychotherapy in social anxiety disorder
- 2012
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Ingår i: Translational Psychiatry. - : Springer Nature. - 2158-3188. ; 2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The dopamine system has been suggested to play a role in social anxiety disorder (SAD), partly based on molecular imaging studies showing reduced levels of striatal dopaminergic markers in patients compared with control subjects. However, the dopamine system has not been examined in frontal and limbic brain regions proposed to be central in the pathophysiology of SAD. In the present study, we hypothesized that extrastriatal dopamine D2-receptor (D2-R) levels measured using positron emission tomography (PET) would predict symptom reduction after cognitive behavior therapy (behavior). Nine SAD patients were examined using high-resolution PET and the high-affinity D2-R antagonist radioligand [C-11]FLB 457, before and after 15 weeks of CBT. Symptom levels were assessed using the anxiety subscale of Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS(anx)). At posttreatment, there was a statistically significant reduction of social anxiety symptoms (Po0.005). Using a repeated measures analysis of covariance, significant effects for time and time x LSAS(anx) change on D2-R-binding potential (BPND) were shown (P<0.05). In a subsequent region-by-region analysis, negative correlations between change in D2-R BPND and LSAS(anx) change were found for medial prefrontal cortex and hippocampus (P<0.05). This is the first study to report a direct relationship between symptom change after psychological treatment and a marker of brain P<0.05. Using an intra-individual comparison design, the study supports a role for the dopamine system in cortical and limbic brain regions in the pathophysiology of SAD. Translational Psychiatry (2012) 2, e120; doi:10.1038/tp.2012.40; published online 22 May 2012
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| 7. |
- Erhardt, A., et al.
(författare)
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Replication and meta-analysis of TMEM132D gene variants in panic disorder
- 2012
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Ingår i: Translational Psychiatry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2158-3188. ; 2:e156
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A recent genome-wide association study in patients with panic disorder (PD) identified a risk haplotype consisting of two single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs7309727 and rs11060369) located in intron 3 of TMEM132D to be associated with PD in three independent samples. Now we report a subsequent confirmation study using five additional PD case-control samples (n = 1670 cases and n 2266 controls) assembled as part of the Panic Disorder International Consortium (PanIC) study for a total of 2678 cases and 3262 controls in the analysis. In the new independent samples of European ancestry (EA), the association of rs7309727 and the risk haplotype rs7309727-rs11060369 was, indeed, replicated, with the strongest signal coming from patients with primary PD, that is, patients without major psychiatric comorbidities (n 1038 cases and n 2411 controls). This finding was paralleled by the results of the meta-analysis across all samples, in which the risk haplotype and rs7309727 reached P-levels of P = 1.4e-8 and P = 1.1e-8, respectively, when restricting the samples to individuals of EA with primary PD. In the Japanese sample no associations with PD could be found. The present results support the initial finding that TMEM132D gene contributes to genetic susceptibility for PD in individuals of EA. Our results also indicate that patient ascertainment and genetic background could be important sources of heterogeneity modifying this association signal in different populations. Translational Psychiatry (2012) 2, e156; doi:10.1038/tp.2012.85; published online 4 September 2012
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| 8. |
- Frick, Andreas, et al.
(författare)
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Altered fusiform connectivity during processing of fearful faces in social anxiety disorder
- 2013
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Ingår i: Translational Psychiatry. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 2158-3188. ; 3, s. e312-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Social anxiety disorder (SAD) has been associated with hyper-reactivity in limbic brain regions like the amygdala, both during symptom provocation and emotional face processing tasks. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging study we sought to examine brain regions implicated in emotional face processing, and the connectivity between them, in patients with SAD (n=14) compared with healthy controls (n=12). We furthermore aimed to relate brain reactivity and connectivity to self-reported social anxiety symptom severity. SAD patients exhibited hyper-reactivity in the bilateral fusiform gyrus in response to fearful faces, as well as greater connectivity between the fusiform gyrus and amygdala, and decreased connectivity between the fusiform gyrus and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Within the SAD group, social anxiety severity correlated positively with amygdala reactivity to emotional faces, amygdala-fusiform connectivity and connectivity between the amygdala and superior temporal sulcus (STS). These findings point to a pivotal role for the fusiform gyrus in SAD neuropathology, and further suggest that altered amygdala-fusiform and amygdala-STS connectivity could underlie previous findings of aberrant socio-emotional information processing in this anxiety disorder.
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Hadjikhani, Nouchine, 1966, et al.
(författare)
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Emotional contagion for pain is intact in autism spectrum disorders.
- 2014
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Ingår i: Translational psychiatry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2158-3188. ; 4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Perceiving others in pain generally leads to empathic concern, consisting of both emotional and cognitive processes. Empathy deficits have been considered as an element contributing to social difficulties in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging and short video clips of facial expressions of people experiencing pain to examine the neural substrates underlying the spontaneous empathic response to pain in autism. Thirty-eight adolescents and adults of normal intelligence diagnosed with ASD and 35 matched controls participated in the study. In contrast to general assumptions, we found no significant differences in brain activation between ASD individuals and controls during the perception of pain experienced by others. Both groups showed similar levels of activation in areas associated with pain sharing, evidencing the presence of emotional empathy and emotional contagion in participants with autism as well as in controls. Differences between groups could be observed at a more liberal statistical threshold, and revealed increased activations in areas involved in cognitive reappraisal in ASD participants compared with controls. Scores of emotional empathy were positively correlated with brain activation in areas involved in embodiment of pain in ASD group only. Our findings show that simulation mechanisms involved in emotional empathy are preserved in high-functioning individuals with autism, and suggest that increased reappraisal may have a role in their apparent lack of caring behavior.
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