The Serotonin System and Spiritual Experiences

Borg, Jacqueline; Andrée, Bengt; Söderström, Henrik; Farde, Lars

doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.160.11.1965

Cited by 205 publications

(128 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…To our knowledge there are four earlier imaging studies on HA and serotonin receptor density in healthy volunteers (Moresco et al 2002 ;Rabiner et al 2002 ;Borg et al 2003 ;Karlsson et al 2009). Of these studies, three used a 5-HT 1A receptor tracer [carbonyl-11 C]WAY-100635 (Rabiner et al 2002 ;Borg et al 2003 ;Karlsson et al 2009) and none of them found an association between receptor density and HA. Considering that the combined number of healthy subjects in these studies is 96, we think that it is unlikely that HA is related to 5-HT 1A receptor density in the healthy population.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A total of six published studies have used PET or single photon emission computed tomography to examine the correlation of serotonergic neurotransmission with HA (Rabiner et al 2002 ;Moresco et al 2002 ;Borg et al 2003 ;Van Heeringen et al 2003 ;Reimold et al 2008 ;Karlsson et al 2009 (Rabiner et al 2002 ;Borg et al 2003 ;Karlsson et al 2009) and one examining serotonin transporter 5-HTT with (Reimold et al 2008) in healthy subjects found no correlation between serotonin function and HA.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Temperament, character and serotonin activity in the human brain: a positron emission tomography study based on a general population cohort

et al. 2012

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Tuominen, L.; Salo, J.; Hirvonen, J.; Någren, K.; Laine, P.; Melartin, T.; Isometsä, E.; Viikari, J.; Cloninger, C. R.; Raitakari, O.; Hietala, J.; and Keltikangas-Järvinen, L., ,"Temperament, character and serotonin activity in the human brain: A positron emission tomography study based on a general population cohort." Psychological Medicine. 43,4. 881-894. (2012 Background. The psychobiological model of personality by Cloninger and colleagues originally hypothesized that interindividual variability in the temperament dimension ' harm avoidance ' (HA) is explained by differences in the activity of the brain serotonin system. We assessed brain serotonin transporter (5-HTT) density in vivo with positron emission tomography (PET) in healthy individuals with high or low HA scores using an ' oversampling ' study design.Method. Subjects consistently in either upper or lower quartiles for the HA trait were selected from a populationbased cohort in Finland (n=2075) with pre-existing Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) scores. A total of 22 subjects free of psychiatric and somatic disorders were included in the matched high-and low-HA groups. The main outcome measure was regional 5-HTT binding potential (BP ND ) in high-and low-HA groups estimated with PET and [ 11 C]N,N-dimethyl-2-(2-amino-4-methylphenylthio)benzylamine ([ 11 C]MADAM). In secondary analyses, 5-HTT BP ND was correlated with other TCI dimensions.Results. 5-HTT BP ND did not differ between high-and low-HA groups in the midbrain or any other brain region. This result remained the same even after adjusting for other relevant TCI dimensions. Higher 5-HTT BP ND in the raphe nucleus predicted higher scores in ' self-directedness '.Conclusions. This study does not support an association between the temperament dimension HA and serotonin transporter density in healthy subjects. However, we found a link between high serotonin transporter density and high ' self-directedness ' (ability to adapt and control one's behaviour to fit situations in accord with chosen goals and values). We suggest that biological factors are more important in explaining variability in character than previously thought.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temperament, character and serotonin activity in the human brain: a positron emission tomography study based on a general population cohort

et al. 2012

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“…Subtle abnormalities in the availability of [ 11 C]WAY-binding sites were reported in clinical PET studies of personality differences (Borg et al, 2003), depression (Drevets et al, 1999;Bhagwagar et al, 2004;Sargent et al, 2000), schizophrenia (Tauscher et al, 2002), juvenile myoclon epilepsia (JME) (Meschaks et al, 2005), bulimia nervosa (Tiihonen et al, 2004), ALS (Turner et al, 2005), and Parkinson's disease (PD) (Doder et al, 2003). Together, these studies show that [ 11 C]WAY binding, as an index of serotonin 5HT 1A receptor availability, is correlated with scores of personality, increased in specific cortical regions of patients with schizophrenia and bulimia nervosa, globally decreased in patients with depression and ALS, and focally decreased in patients with JME and in the raphé nucleus of PD patients.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Parametric and Regional Maps of Free Serotonin 5HT1A Receptor Sites in Human Brain as Function of Age in Healthy Humans

Møller

Jakobsen

Gjedde

2007

Neuropsychopharmacol

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(Gjedde, 2003;Rosa-Neto et al, 2004), which extrapolates measures of specific binding to an estimated steady-state. We compared these estimates in the two age groups with results obtained with the conventional Logan Plot and Simplified Reference Tissue Method (SRTM) applied to both regions of interestbased as parametric analyses. The regional distribution of specific binding of free sites [ 11 C]WAY-100635 was similar to that reported in previous studies, with the highest pBs in limbic structures and the raphé nuclei. Although the results of the three methods differed, pBs in the elderly subjects consistently were lower than those of young subjects. Thus, the correlation between pB and age applied to regionsof-interest revealed significant decline of pB at the rate of 3 or 4% per decade, and a 10% decline of the global mean 5HT 1A receptor-pB in elderly relative to young subjects. The results demonstrate that the number of available 5HT 1A -binding sites declines with age.

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“…Thus [ 18 F]fluoroethylspiperone bind-ing to the excitatory 5HT 2A receptors in the frontal cortex is associated with greater tendency to avoid danger (Moresco, 2002). Borg et al (2003) found that the binding of [ 11 C]WAY100635 to the inhibitory 5HT 1A receptors correlates inversely with scores of a personality trait known as ''self-transcendence.'' Also, subjects with the a 2A adrenergic receptor genotype GG score significantly higher on Depression and significantly lower on Morality and Orderliness scales than subjects with CC and CG genotypes (Mäestu et al, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monoaminergic modulation of emotional impact in the inferomedial prefrontal cortex

Geday

Gjedde

2008

Synapse

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People assess the impact of emotionally loaded images differently. We define this impact as the average difference between individual ratings of standardized ''pleasant'' and ''unpleasant'' images. To determine the neuroanatomical correlate of a hypothetical interaction between emotional impact and cerebral excitability, we first determined the individual effect on cerebral blood flow of a pharmacological challenge with the monoamine reuptake inhibitor clomipramine in nine healthy volunteers. In a later, independent, session the nine volunteers rated pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant images of the standard Empathy Picture System on a scale from 13 to 23. We then used regression analysis to identify sites in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex at which the two separately acquired measures, blood flow change and emotional impact of images, correlated significantly. The regression analysis identified a locus in Brodmann's area 11 of the inferomedial prefrontal cortex (IMPC) at which these two separate measures had significant inverse correlation. Thus, under the specific circumstance of positron emission tomography (PET) of a pharmacological challenge, a key region of the inferomedial prefrontal cortex underwent deactivation in proportion to a separately rated emotional impact of a stimulus. We propose a specific pharmacodynamic mechanism that explains the correlation between the emotional impact and the effect of a serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor on cerebral blood flow.

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The Serotonin System and Spiritual Experiences

Abstract: This finding in normal male subjects indicated that the serotonin system may serve as a biological basis for spiritual experiences. The authors speculated that the several-fold variability in 5-HT(1A) receptor density may explain why people vary greatly in spiritual zeal.

Cited by 205 publications

References 27 publications

Temperament, character and serotonin activity in the human brain: a positron emission tomography study based on a general population cohort

Temperament, character and serotonin activity in the human brain: a positron emission tomography study based on a general population cohort

Parametric and Regional Maps of Free Serotonin 5HT1A Receptor Sites in Human Brain as Function of Age in Healthy Humans

Monoaminergic modulation of emotional impact in the inferomedial prefrontal cortex

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