Negative cognitive response to a sad mood induction: Associations with polymorphisms of the serotonin transporter (5-HTTLPR) gene

The serotonin transporter linked polymorphic region and brain-derived neurotrophic factor valine to methionine at position 66 polymorphisms and maternal history of depression: Associations with cognitive vulnerability to depression in childhood

“…Our findings also suggest a mechanism by which the 5-HTTLPR may increase depression vulnerability: via its associations with cognitive reactivity in the context of dysphoric mood, although the exact processes by which variation at this locus might influence cognition are admittedly unclear. We did not hypothesize that moderation by maternal depression was necessary for an association between the short allele and SRET performance to emerge, based on our previous finding, and the aforementioned other studies showing a main effect of this gene on other markers of depression risk (e.g., Beevers, Pacheco, Clasen, McGeary, & Schnyer, 2010; Caspi et al, 2010; Perepletchikova & Kaufman, 2011), including cognitive vulnerability (e.g., Beevers et al, 2009; Beevers, Wells, Ellis, & McGeary, 2009). Exploratory analyses provided no support for moderation.…”

“…A complete answer to such questions may require the integration of genetic and other neurobiological approaches with research on depressive cognition (Beck, 2008). Along these lines, several papers have implicated specific genes in shaping depressogenic information processing (Beevers, Scott, McGeary, & McGeary, 2009; Beevers, Wells, Ellis, & McGeary, 2009; Fox, Ridgewell, & Ashwin, 2009; Gibb, Benas, Grassia, & McGeary, 2009; Sheikh et al, 2008). These studies have primarily focused on a functional polymorphism in the 5′ promoter region of the serotonin transporter linked polymorphic region gene ( 5-HTTLPR , on chromosome 17q; Lesch, Bengel, Heils, & Sabol, 1996).…”

“…Several groups (Beevers, Scott, et al, 2009; Hayden et al, 2008) have provided evidence derived from relatively small samples linking the short allele of the 5-HTTLPR to heightened negative cognition following a negative mood induction. Such reactivity may be a cognitive marker of stress sensitivity, which would be consistent with other lines of research linking this polymorphism to biological indices of stress reactivity such as cortisol reactivity to laboratory stress and amygdala reactivity to threatening stimuli (Caspi, Hariri, Holmes, Uher, & Moffitt, 2010; Gotlib, Joormann, Minor, & Hallmayer, 2008; Hariri et al, 2002; Munafò, Brown, & Hariri, 2008), self-reported neuroticism in adults (Munafò et al, 2009), and laboratory observations of heightened negative emotionality in children with other sources of temperamental risk for depression (Hayden, Klein, Sheikh, et al, 2010).…”

Serotonin transporter and BDNF genetic variants interact to predict cognitive reactivity in healthy adults

“…Given previous findings of increased negative thinking and negative self-referent processing after a sad mood provocation among 5-HTTLPR S allele carriers (Hayden et al, 2008; Beevers et al, 2009) we predicted that 5-HTTLPR S/L G allele carriers, compared to L A allele homozygotes, would show greater change in dysfunctional attitudes (i.e., cognitive reactivity) following a sad mood provocation. In line with Pezawas and colleagues (Pezawas et al, 2008), we also hypothesized that the presence of the Val66Met Met allele would protect against increased cognitive reactivity among S/L G 5-HTTLPR allele-carriers.…”

“…For example, after a sad mood provocation, 7-year-old children homozygous for the S allele were found to endorse and recall more negative words in a self-referent encoding task compared to L allele-carriers (Hayden et al, 2008). Similarly, young adults homozygous for the S 5-HTTLPR allele endorsed more negative thinking after viewing a sad film clip than L allele carriers but there were no differences between allele groups after viewing a neutral film clip (Beevers et al, 2009). In short, the presence of S/L G 5-HTTLPR alleles appears to be associated with increased negative thinking in response to a sad mood.…”