Filling the Gap: Relationship Between the Serotonin-Transporter-Linked Polymorphic Region and Amygdala Activation
Jojanneke A. Bastiaansen, Michelle N. Servaas, Jan Bernard C. Marsman, Johan Ormel, Ilja M. Nolte, Harriëtte Riese, André Aleman
Psychological Science · 2014 · Volume 25 · Issue 11
Abstract
The alleged association between the serotonin-transporter-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) and amygdala activation forms a cornerstone of the common view that carrying the short allele of this polymorphism is a potential risk factor for affective disorders. The authors of a recent meta-analysis showed that this association is statistically significant (Hedges’s g = 0.35) but warned that estimates might be distorted because of publication bias. Here, we report a replication study of this relationship in 120 participants. We failed to find an association of 5-HTTLPR variation with amygdala activation during a widely used emotional-face-matching paradigm. Moreover, when we conducted a meta-analysis that included unpublished studies and data from the current study, the pooled meta-analytic effect size was no longer significant ( g = 0.20, p = .06). These findings cast doubt on previously reported substantial effects, suggesting that the 5-HTTLPR–amygdala association is either much smaller than previously thought, conditional on other factors, or nonexistent.
Keywords
SLC6A4, 5-HTTLPR, amygdala, imaging genetics, publication bias, meta-analysis
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