A functional polymorphism of the MAOA gene is associated with neural responses to induced anger control

J Cogn Neurosci. 2014 Jul;26(7):1418-27. doi: 10.1162/jocn_a_00592. Epub 2014 Feb 24.

Abstract

Aggressiveness is highly heritable. Recent experimental work has linked individual differences in a functional polymorphism of the monoamine oxidase-A gene (MAOA) to anger-driven aggression. Other work has implicated the dorsal ACC (dACC) in cognitive-emotional control and the amygdala in emotional arousal. The present imaging genetics study investigated dACC and amygdala reactivity to induced anger control as a function of MAOA genotype. A research assistant asked 38 healthy male undergraduates to control their anger in response to an insult by a rude experimenter. Men with the low-expression allele showed increased dACC and amygdala activation after the insult, but men with the high-expression allele did not. Both dACC and amygdala activation independently mediated the relationship between MAOA genotype and self-reported anger control. Moreover, following the insult, men with the high-functioning allele showed functional decoupling between the amygdala and dACC, but men with the low-functioning allele did not. These results suggest that heightened dACC and amygdala activation and their connectivity are neuroaffective mechanisms underlying anger control in participants with the low-functioning allele of the MAOA gene.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Anger / physiology*
  • Brain / blood supply
  • Brain / physiology*
  • Brain Mapping*
  • Female
  • Genetic Association Studies
  • Genotype
  • Humans
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Monoamine Oxidase / genetics*
  • Neuropsychological Tests
  • Oxygen / blood
  • Polymorphism, Genetic / genetics*
  • Statistics as Topic
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Monoamine Oxidase
  • Oxygen