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The human serotonin transporter gene explains why some populations are more optimistic?

Molecular Psychiatry volume 14, page 828 (2009)Cite this article

The recent report by Fox et al.1 analyzed the impact of a common serotonin transporter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) in biased attention toward positive and negative affective pictures. They found that homozygous for the ‘L’ variant (LL) differed significantly from the other genotype groups (Ls and ss) in terms of both their avoidance of negative material as well as their vigilance for positive material.

Their results raised an interesting question: if the human serotonin transporter gene plays a role in positive or negative affective states (such as optimism and joy as opposed to pessimism), would the LL polymorphism be more frequent among people (or in populations) with more optimistic attitude?

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK

    A L Nishimura

  2. Department of Neuropsychiatry and Keizo Asami Laboratory, Federal University of Pernambuco, Brazil

    J R M Oliveira

  3. Human Genome Research Center, Institute of Biosciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    M Zatz

Authors
  1. A L Nishimura
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  2. J R M Oliveira
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  3. M Zatz
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Correspondence to M Zatz.

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Nishimura, A., Oliveira, J. & Zatz, M. The human serotonin transporter gene explains why some populations are more optimistic?. Mol Psychiatry 14, 828 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2009.48

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