Aberrant Brain Activity in Individuals With Psychopathy Links to Receptor Distribution, Gene Expression, and Behavior

A recent review article discussed the role of serotonin in aggressive behavior ( 1 Da Cunha-Bang S. Knudsen G.M. The modulatory role of serotonin on human impulsive aggression. Biol Psychiatry. 2021; 90: 447-457 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (7) Google Scholar ). The authors concluded that low endogenous serotonin levels represent a neurobiological trait risk factor for impulsive aggression but that further multimodal research is needed to elucidate the relationship between serotonin function and brain circuits of aggression. Recent advances in multimodal data fusion and availability of open multimodal data resources now allow for a direct evaluation of such questions at various levels integrating genetics, multimodal imaging, and behavior. The Modulatory Role of Serotonin on Human Impulsive AggressionBiological PsychiatryVol. 90Issue 7PreviewThe hypothesis of chronically low brain serotonin levels as pathophysiologically linked to impulsive aggression has been around for several decades. Whereas the theory was initially based on indirect methods to probe serotonin function, our understanding of the neural mechanisms involved in impulsive aggression has progressed with recent advances in neuroimaging. The review integrates evidence based on data from several neuroimaging domains in humans. In vivo molecular neuroimaging findings demonstrate associations between impulsive aggression and high serotonin 1B and serotonin 4 receptor binding, high serotonin transporter levels, and low monoamine oxidase A levels, suggesting that low interstitial serotonin levels are a neurobiological risk factor for impulsive aggressive behavior. Full-Text PDF Open AccessReply to: Aberrant Brain Activity in Individuals With Psychopathy Links to Receptor Distribution, Gene Expression, and BehaviorBiological PsychiatryVol. 91Issue 12PreviewDukart et al. have provided a correspondence that builds on our suggestion (1) to conduct multimodal neuroimaging in order to elucidate the relationship between serotonin function and brain circuits of aggression. They use multimodal neuroimaging data to investigate psychopathy, which they use as a model for aggression. They find that aberrant brain activity in psychopathic individuals associates with a specific receptor distribution, gene expression, and behavior. Their model is based on linking population-based atlases of neurotransmitters to aberrant brain activity in psychopathic individuals, whereby they report a spatial correspondence between serotonin 1A receptor binding and aberrant brain activity. Full-Text PDF