DNA’s Moody Temperament: Gene variant linked to depression-ready brain
By Bruce Bower
Scientists have for the first time seen what a genetic predisposition to depression looks like in the brain. Brain images show that people who inherit a short version of a particular gene have poor control over neural reactions to threats and stress.
The short gene’s protein, known as the serotonin transporter protein, may degrade connections in the brain’s mood-regulation system by fostering intense serotonin activity, propose psychiatrist Daniel R. Weinberger of the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Md., and his colleagues. Serotonin plays a pivotal role in assembling the brain’s emotion circuitry, especially during fetal development.