Effect of MAOA Genotype on Resting-State Networks in Healthy Participants

Abstract

Up to now, it remains unclear how monoamine oxidase A (MAOA), which has been repeatedly linked to aggression, affects brain activity within resting-state networks (RSN). Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to test whether the MAOA genotype might influence activity within the common RSN. Our results demonstrate that during rest, participants with the low-activity genotype (MAOA-L) exhibit more activity within frontoparietal and temporal parts of the default mode network (DMN) and the cerebellum. The executive control and salience RSN revealed reduced activity for the MAOA-L group in several areas related to executive control, namely the right middle frontal gyrus (BA 6 and BA 9), and the dorsal part of the anterior cingulate cortex. Participants with the high-activity genotype (MAOA-H) showed increased activity in the posterior cingulate part of the DMN. Taken together, we found widespread hyperactivity within the DMN and reduced activity in brain areas related to executive and inhibitory control for the MAOA-L group. We discuss how these first results examining the influence of MAOA on the resting brain might be related to previous findings regarding the genetics of aggression, while acknowledging that this is an exploratory study which needs further confirmation.

Keywords: aggression; functional magnetic resonance imaging; genotype; monoamine oxidase A; resting-state networks.