Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-12T11:29:40.327Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Genetic modulation of the response bias towards facial displays of anger and happiness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 April 2020

B. Gohier ,
C. Senior ,
J. Radua ,
W. El-Hage ,
A. Reichenberg ,
P. Proitsi ,
M.L. Phillips  and
S.A. Surguladze
B. Gohier*
Affiliation:
Université d’Angers, CHU Angers, Département de Psychiatrie, Angers, France Laboratoire de Psychologie des Pays de la Loire, EA 4638, Université d’Angers, Angers, France
C. Senior
Affiliation:
School of Life and Health Sciences, Aston University, Aston Triangle, Birmingham, UK
J. Radua
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK FIDMAG, CIBERSAM, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Spain
W. El-Hage
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK Inserm U930, Université François Rabelais, CHRU de Tours, Tours, France
A. Reichenberg
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK
P. Proitsi
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK
M.L. Phillips
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA Department of Psychological Medicine, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, UK
S.A. Surguladze
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK Cygnet Health Care, London, UK
*
*Corresponding author. CHU, Département de psychiatrie, 4, rue Larrey, 49933 Angers cedex, France. Tel.: +33 2 41 35 32 44; fax: +33 2 41 35 49 35. E-mail address: begohier@chu-angers.fr (B. Gohier).
Get access

Abstract

Background:

Investigating genetic modulation of emotion processing may contribute to the understanding of heritable mechanisms of emotional disorders. The aim of the present study was to test the effects of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) val158met and serotonin-transporter-linked promoter region (5-HTTLPR) polymorphisms on facial emotion processing in healthy individuals.

Methods:

Two hundred and seventy five (167 female) participants were asked to complete a computerized facial affect recognition task, which involved four experimental conditions, each containing one type of emotional face (fearful, angry, sad or happy) intermixed with neutral faces. Participants were asked to indicate whether the face displayed an emotion or was neutral. The COMT-val158met and 5-HTTLPR polymorphisms were genotyped.

Results:

Met homozygotes (COMT) showed a stronger bias to perceive neutral faces as expressions of anger, compared with val homozygotes. However, the S-homozygotes (5-HTTLPR) showed a reduced bias to perceive neutral faces as expressions of happiness, compared to L-homozygotes. No interaction between 5-HTTLPR and COMT was found.

Conclusions:

These results add to the knowledge of individual differences in social cognition that are modulated via serotonergic and dopaminergic systems. This potentially could contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms of susceptibility to emotional disorders.

Keywords

Genes5-HTTLPRCOMTFacial emotion recognitionEmotional disorders
Type
Original articles
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 29 , Issue 4 , May 2014 , pp. 197 - 202
Copyright
Copyright © European Psychiatric Association 2014

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

1

These authors contributed equally to the study.

References

Antypa, N., Cerit, H., Kruijt, A.W., Verhoeven, F.E., Van der Does, A.J.Relationships among 5-HTT genotype, life events and gender in the recognition of facial emotions. Neuroscience 2011;13:303–313.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beck, A.T., Steer, R.A., Brown, G.K.Manual for the Beck Depression Inventory-II. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation; 1996.Google Scholar
Beevers, C.G., Gibb, B.E., McGeary, J.E., Miller, I.W.Serotonin transporter genetic variation and biased attention for emotional word stimuli among psychiatric inpatients. J Abnorm Psychol 2007;116:208–212.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beevers, C.G., Marti, C.N., Lee, H.J., Stote, D.L., Ferrell, R.E., Hariri, A.R.et al.Associations between serotonin transporter gene promoter region (5-HTTLPR) polymorphism and gaze bias for emotional information. J Abnorm Psychol 2011;120:187–197.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beevers, C.G., Wells, T.T., Ellis, A.J., McGeary, J.E.Association of the serotonin transporter gene promoter region (5-HTTLPR) polymorphism with biased attention for emotional stimuli. J Abnorm Psychol 2009;118:670–681.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bevilacqua, L., Goldman, D.Genetics of emotion. Trends Cogn Sci 2011;15:401–408.Google ScholarPubMed
Bornstein, M.H., Arterberry, M.E., Mash, C., Manian, N.Discrimination of facial expression by 5-month-old infants of non-depressed and clinically depressed mothers. Infant Behav Dev 2011;34:100–106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conway, C.C., Hammen, C., Brennan, P.A., Lind, P.A., Najman, J.M.Interaction of chronic stress with serotonin transporter and catechol-O-Methyltransferase polymorphisms in predicting youth depression. Depress Anxiety 2010;27:737–745.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Corwin, E.M., Logar, A.M., Oldham, W.B.An iterative method for training multilayer networks with threshold functions. IEEE Trans Neural Netw 1994;5:507–508.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Craddock, N., Forty, L.The genetics of affective (mood) disorders. Eur J Hum Genet 2006;14:660–668.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Defrancesco, M., Niederstätter, H., Parson, W., Oberacher, H., Hinterhuber, H., Canazei Bidner, J.et al.Influence of serotonin transporter genotype and catechol-O-methyltransferase Val158Met polymorphism on recognition of emotional faces. J Int Neuropsychol Soc 2011;17:1014–1020.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Domschke, K., Baune, B.T., Havlik, L., Stuhrmann, A., Suslow, T., Kugel, H.et al.Catechol-O-methyltransferase gene variation: impact on amygdala response to aversive-stimuli. Neuroimage 2012;60:2222–2229.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Domschke, K., Freitag, C.M., Kuhlenbäumer, G., Schirmacher, A., Sand, P., Nythuis, P.et al.Association of the functional V158M catechol-O-methyl-transferase polymorphism with panic disorder in women. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol 2004;7:183–188.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Drabant, E.M., Hariri, A.R., Meyer-Lindenberg, A., Munoz, K.E., Mattay, V.S., Kolachana, B.S.et al.Catechol O-methyltransferase val158met genotype and neural mechanisms related to affective arousal and regulation. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2006;63:1396–1406.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Enoch, M.A., Xu, K., Ferro, E., Harris, C.R., Goldman, D.Genetic origins of anxiety in women: a role for a functional catechol-O-methyltransferase polymorphism. Psychiatr Genet 2003;13:33–41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ferrari, P.F., Van Erp, A.M., Tornatzky, W., Miczek, K.A.Accumbal dopamine and serotonin in anticipation of the next aggressive episode in rats. Eur J Neurosci 2003;17:371–378.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
First, M.B., Gibbon, M., Spitzer, R.L., Williams, J.B.W.SCID-1: Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR Axis 1 Disorders. New York, NY: Biometrics Research; 2001.Google Scholar
Folstein, M.F., Folstein, S.E., McHugh, P.R.Mini Mental State: a practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. J Psychiatr Res 1975;12:189–198.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fox, E., Ridgwell, A., Ashwin, C.Looking on the bright side: biased attention and the human serotonin transporter gene. Proc Biol Sci 2009;276:1747–1751.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fu, C.H., Williams, S.C., Brammer, M.J., Suckling, J., Kim, J., Cleare, A.J.et al.Neural responses to happy facial expressions in major depression following antidepressant treatment. Am J Psychiatry 2007;164:599–607.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gibb, B.E., Beevers, C.G., McGeary, J.E.Toward an integration of cognitive and genetic models of risk for depression. Cogn Emot 2013;27:193–216.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goldberg, D.P., Hillier, V.F.A scale version of the General Health Questionnaire. Psychol Med 1979;9:139–145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gur, R.C., Erwin, R.J., Gur, R.E., Zwil, A.S., Heimberg, C., Kraemer, H.C.Facial emotion discrimination: II Behavioral findings in depression. Psychiatry Res 1992;42:241–251.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hariri, A.R., Weinberger, D.R.Imaging genomics. Br Med Bull 2003;65:259–270.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Joormann, J., Gilbert, K., Gotlib, I.H.Emotion identification in girls at high risk for depression. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2010;51:575–582.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Karg, K., Burmeister, M., Shedden, K., Sen, S.The serotonin transporter promoter variant (5-HTTLPR) stress, and depression meta-analysis revisited: evidence of genetic moderation. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2011;68:444–454.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kwang, T., Wells, T.T., McGeary, J.E., Swann, W.B. Jr.Beevers, C.G.Association of the serotonin transporter promoter region polymorphism with biased attention for negative word stimuli. Depress Anxiety 2010;27:746–751.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lachman, H.M., Papolos, D.F., Saito, T., Yu, Y.M., Weinshilboum, R.M.Human catechol-O-methyltransferase pharmacogenetics: description of a functional polymorphism and its potential application to neuropsychiatric disorders. Pharmacogenetics 1996;6:243–250.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Le Masurier, M., Cowen, P.J., Harmer, C.J.Emotional bias and waking salivary cortisol in relatives of patients with major depression. Psychol Med 2007;37:403–410.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lesch, K.P., Bengel, D., Heils, A., Sabol, S.Z., Greenberg, B.D., Petri, S.et al.Association of anxiety-related traits with a polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene regulatory region. Science 1996;274:1527–1531.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lonsdorf, T.B., Weike, A.I., Nikamo, P., Schalling, M., Hamm, A.O., Ohman, A.Genetic gating of human fear learning and extinction: possible implications for gene-environment interaction in anxiety disorder. Psychol Sci 2009;20:198–206.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
López-León, S., Janssens, A.C., González-Zuloeta Ladd, A.M., Des-Favero, J., Claes, S.J., Oostra, B.A., van Dujin, C.M.Meta-analyses of genetic studies on major depressive disorder. Mol Psychiatry 2008;13:772–785.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mandelli, L., Serretti, A., Marino, E., Pirovano, A., Calati, R., Colombo, C.Interaction between serotonin transporter gene, catechol-O-methyltransferase gene and stressful life events in mood disorders. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol 2007;10:437–447.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McCabe, C., Woffindale, C., Harmer, C.J., Cowen, P.J.Neural processing of reward and punishment in young people at increased familial risk of depression. Biol Psychiatry 2012;7:588–594.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Montag, C., Buckholtz, J.W., Hartmann, P., Merz, M., Burk, C., Hennig, J.et al.COMT genetic variation affects fear processing: psychophysiological evidence. Behav Neurosci 2008;122:901–909.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mynett-Johnson, L.A., Murphy, V.E., Claffey, E., Shields, D.C., McKeon, P.Preliminary evidence of an association between bipolar disorder in females and the catechol-O-methyltransferase gene. Psychiatr Genet 1998;8:221–225.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nelson, H.E.National adult reading test, 2nd ed., Windsorm UK: NFER-Nelson; 1991.Google Scholar
Papolos, D.F., Veit, S., Faedda, G.L., Saito, T., Lachman, H.M.Ultra-ultra rapid cycling bipolar disorder is associated with the low activity catecholamine-O-methyltransferase allele. Mol Psychiatry 1998;3:346–349.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Parsey, R.V., Hastings, R.S., Oquendo, M.A., Hu, X., Goldman, D., Huang, Y.Y.et al.Effect of a triallelic functional polymorphism of the serotonin-transporter-linked promoter region on expression of serotonin transporter in the human brain. Am J Psychiatry 2006;163:48–51.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Perez-Edgar, K., Bar-Haim, Y., McDermott, J.M., Gorodetsky, E., Hodgkinson, C.A., Goldman, D.et al.Variations in the serotonin-transporter gene are associated with attention bias patterns to positive and negative emotion faces. Biol Psychol 2010;83:269–271.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scharinger, C., Rabl, U., Sitte, H.H., Pezawas, L.Imaging genetics of mood disorders. Neuroimage 2010;53:810–821.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sklar, P., Smoller, J.W., Fan, J., Ferreira, M.A., Perlis, R.H., Chambert, K.et al.Whole-genome association study of bipolar disorder. Mol Psychiatry 2008;13:558–569.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smolka, M.N., Schumann, G., Wrase, J., Grüsser, S.M., Flor, H., Mann, K.et al.Catechol-O-methyltransferase val158met genotype affects processing of emotional stimuli in the amygdala and prefrontal cortex. J Neurosci 2005;26:836–842.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spielberger, G.D., Gorush, R.L., Lusshene, R.E.The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press; 1970.Google Scholar
Stollstorff, M., Bean, S.E., Anderson, L.M., Devaney, J.M., Vaidya, C.J.Rationality and emotionality: serotonin transporter genotype influences reasoning bias. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2013;8:404–409.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Surguladze, S., Brammer, M.J., Keedwell, P., Giampietro, V., Young, A.W., Travis, M.J.et al.A Differential pattern of neural response toward sad versus happy facial expressions in major depressive disorder. Biol Psychiatry 2005;57:201–209.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Surguladze, S.A., Radua, J., El-Hage, W., Gohier, B., Sato, J.R., Kronhaus, D.M.et al.Interaction of catechol O-methyltransferase and serotonin transporter genes modulates effective connectivity in a facial emotion-processing circuitry. Transl Psychiatry 2012;17.Google Scholar
Surguladze, S.A., Young, A.W., Senior, C., Brebion, G., Travis, M.J., Phillips, M.L.Recognition accuracy and response bias to happy and sad facial expressions in patients with major depression. Neuropsychology 2004;18:212–218.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Suslow, T., Junghanns, K., Arolt, V.Detection of facial expressions of emotions in depression. Percept Mot Skills 2001;92:857–868.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thomason, M.E., Henry, M.L., Paul Hamilton, J., Joormann, J., Pine, D.S., Ernst, M.et al.Neural and behavioral responses to threatening emotion faces in children as a function of the short allele of the serotonin transporter gene. Biol Psychol 2010;85:38–44.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weiss, E.M., Stadelmann, E., Kohler, C.G., Brensinger, C.M., Nolan, K.A., Oberacher, H.et al.Differential effect of catechol-O-methyltransferase Val158Met genotype on emotional recognition abilities in healthy men and women. J Int Neuropsychol Soc 2007;13:881–887.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wendland, J.R., Martin, B.J., Kruse, M.R., Lesch, K.P., Murphy, D.L.Simultaneous genotyping of four functional loci of human SLC6A4, with a reappraisal of 5-HTTLPR and rs25531. Mol Psychiatry 2006;11:224–226.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Woo, J.M., Yoon, K.S., Yu, B.H.Catechol O-methyltransferase genetic polymorphism in panic disorder. Am J Psychiatry 2002;59:1785–1787.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yoon, K.L., Joormann, J., Gotlib, I.H.Judging the intensity of facial expressions of emotion: depression-related biases in the processing of positive affect. J Abnorm Psychol 2009;118:223–228.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Young, A., Perrett, D., Calder, A., Sprengelmeyer, R., Ekman, P.Facial Expressions of Emotion: Stimuli and Tests (FEEST). Bury St. Edmunds: Thames Valley Test Company; 2002.Google Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.