NEW DIRECTIONS IN THE GENETICS OF IMPULSIVITY AND AGGRESSION

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The purpose of the proposed study is to investigate the genetic contribution to impulsive aggressive behavior in patients with personality disorders, utilizing known polymorphisms in serotonin-related genes. Impulsive aggressive behavior is prevalent in patients with personality disorders and accounts for a substantial portion of the morbidity associated with these disorders. It is logical to investigate the association between genotype in serotonin-related genes and impulsive aggression in patients with personality disorders, in light of the observations that: 1) decreased serotongergic activity in the central nervous systgem has been demonstrated in personality disordered patients with impulsive aggressive behavior; 2) impulsive aggression has been shown to be at least partially heritable; 3) serotonin-related polymorphisms (variability in genotype) have been described, allowing for the characterization of genotype in individual subjects. In addition, we propose to measure central serotonin function utilizing the prolactin response to fenfluramine to allow for comparisons with both genotype and clinical phenomena.