ArticleBehavioral and brain functions : BBF2008
The influence of serotonin- and other genes on impulsive behavioral aggression and cognitive impulsivity in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): Findings from a family-based association test (FBAT) analysis.
Article in Behavioral and brain functions : BBF, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 91 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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Who cites it
91 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 213 citations in OpenAlex.
- Combined family-based association and linkage analyses in families affected by attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.Human genetics · 2026Pooled it
- Genetics of child aggression, a systematic review.Translational psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- Tryptophan modulation in individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a systematic review.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2022Pooled it
- A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Investigating the Relationship between Exposures to Chemical and Non-Chemical Stressors during Prenatal Development and Childhood Externalizing Behaviors.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis examining the interrelationships between chemical and non-chemical stressors and inherent characteristics in children with ADHD.Environmental research · 2020Pooled it
- Association of Serotonin Receptors with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Current medical science · 2018Pooled it
- Brain imaging genetics in ADHD and beyond - Mapping pathways from gene to disorder at different levels of complexity.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2017Pooled it
- Systematic meta-analyses and field synopsis of genetic association studies of violence and aggression.Molecular psychiatry · 2014Pooled it
- Reducing aggression and impulsivity through school-based prevention programs: a gene by intervention interaction.Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · 2014Trial
- Does the cortisol response to stress mediate the link between expressed emotion and oppositional behavior in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity-Disorder (ADHD)?Behavioral and brain functions : BBF · 2010Trial
- The Role of Serotonin in Brain Development: From Molecular Pathways to Neurodevelopmental Risk.Cellular and molecular neurobiology · 2026Review
- Aniracetam restores the excitation-inhibition balance of neurotransmitters in the prefrontal cortex of mice with ADHD.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- The Pediatric Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis: Implications for Neuropsychiatric Development and Intervention.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Serotonin dysfunction in ADHD.Journal of neurodevelopmental disorders · 2025Review
- A narrative review of research advances in gut microbiota and microecological agents in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Review
- Faecal microbiota composition and impulsivity in a cohort of older adults with metabolic syndrome.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Sex-biased gene expression and gene-regulatory networks of sex-biased adverse event drug targets and drug metabolism genes.BMC pharmacology & toxicology · 2024Article
- Sex-biased gene expression and gene-regulatory networks of sex-biased adverse event drug targets and drug metabolism genes.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2023Article
- Molecular signature of excessive female aggression: study of stressed mice with genetic inactivation of neuronal serotonin synthesis.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2023Article
- Elevated levels of serotonin 5-HTEuropean archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2023Article
31 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
20 authors at 15 institutions in 9 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundLow serotonergic (5-HT) activity correlates with increased impulsive-aggressive behavior, while the opposite association may apply to cognitive impulsiveness. Both types of impulsivity are associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and genes of functional significance for the 5-HT system are implicated in this disorder. Here we demonstrate the separation of aggressive and cognitive components of impulsivity from symptom ratings and test their association with 5-HT and functionally related genes using a family-based association test (FBAT-PC).
methodsOur sample consisted of 1180 offspring from 607 families from the International Multicenter ADHD Genetics (IMAGE) study. Impulsive symptoms were assessed using the long forms of the Conners and the Strengths and Difficulties parent and teacher questionnaires. Factor analysis showed that the symptoms aggregated into parent- and teacher-rated behavioral and cognitive impulsivity. We then selected 582 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from 14 genes directly or indirectly related to 5-HT function. Associations between these SNPs and the behavioral/cognitive groupings of impulsive symptoms were evaluated using the FBAT-PC approach.
resultsIn the FBAT-PC analysis for cognitive impulsivity 2 SNPs from the gene encoding phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PNMT, the rate-limiting enzyme for adrenalin synthesis) attained corrected gene-wide significance. Nominal significance was shown for 12 SNPs from BDNF, DRD1, HTR1E, HTR2A, HTR3B, DAT1/SLC6A3, and TPH2 genes replicating reported associations with ADHD. For overt aggressive impulsivity nominal significance was shown for 6 SNPs from BDNF, DRD4, HTR1E, PNMT, and TPH2 genes that have also been reported to be associated with ADHD. Associations for cognitive impulsivity with a SERT/SLC6A4 variant (STin2: 12 repeats) and aggressive behavioral impulsivity with a DRD4 variant (exon 3: 3 repeats) are also described. DISCUSSION: A genetic influence on monoaminergic involvement in impulsivity shown by children with ADHD was found. There were trends for separate and overlapping influences on impulsive-aggressive behavior and cognitive impulsivity, where an association with PNMT (and arousal mechanisms affected by its activity) was more clearly involved in the latter. Serotonergic and dopaminergic mechanisms were implicated in both forms of impulsivity with a wider range of serotonergic mechanisms (each with a small effect) potentially influencing cognitive impulsivity. These preliminary results should be followed up with an examination of environmental influences and associations with performance on tests of impulsivity in the laboratory.
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Registered trials
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