ReviewPsychological bulletin2008
Serotonergic function, two-mode models of self-regulation, and vulnerability to depression: what depression has in common with impulsive aggression.
Review in Psychological bulletin, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 171 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
171 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Exploring the association between serotonin transporter promoter region methylation levels and depressive symptoms: a systematic review and multi-level meta-analysis.Translational psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Change in impulsivity is prospectively associated with treatment outcomes for binge-eating disorder.Psychological medicine · 2023Trial
- Acetaminophen enhances the reflective learning process.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2018Trial
- Cognitive control training for emotion-related impulsivity.Behaviour research and therapy · 2018Trial
- Trial
- Sertraline delays relapse in recently abstinent cocaine-dependent patients with depressive symptoms.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2012Trial
- Serotonergic contribution to boys' behavioral regulation.PloS one · 2011Trial
- Impulsive choice and altruistic punishment are correlated and increase in tandem with serotonin depletion.Emotion (Washington, D.C.) · 2010Trial
- Eight weeks of high-intensity interval training increases peripheral serotonin transporter expression independently of promoter methylation changes.European journal of applied physiology · 2026Article
- Ketamine effects on EEG and their links to therapy differ across treatment-resistant major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Daily self-control demands and loss of control over drinking: The moderating role of trait impulsivity and peer exposure.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2026Article
- Hope for Neurotic Disorders: A Summary of New Zealand Research on the Development of Biomarkers and Novel Treatments.Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand · 2026Article
- Stress and delusions in postgraduate medical students: the mediating role of anxiety and depression and the moderating role of trait impulsivity.BMC psychiatry · 2026Article
- Trait, state, and behavior in adolescent NSSI addiction: a serial mediation model linking childhood trauma to NSSI addiction.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- A four-factor model of psychopathy assessed via neural reinforcement sensitivity theory.Personality neuroscience · 2026Article
- Review: Suicide and its relationship to aggression and impulsivity.Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience · 2025Review
- Registered Report Stage II: A within-person model of distress tolerance and non-suicidal self-injury among adults with recurrent self-injury.Journal of research in personality · 2025Article
- Negative urgency as a state-level process.Journal of personality · 2025Article
- Negative affect-driven impulsivity as hierarchical model-based overgeneralization.Trends in cognitive sciences · 2025Review
111 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Evidence from diverse literatures supports the viewpoint that two modes of self-regulation exist, a lower-order system that responds quickly to associative cues of the moment and a higher-order system that responds more reflectively and planfully; that low serotonergic function is linked to relative dominance of the lower-order system; that how dominance of the lower-order system is manifested depends on additional variables; and that low serotonergic function therefore can promote behavioral patterns as divergent as impulsive aggression and lethargic depression. Literatures reviewed include work on two-mode models; studies of brain function supporting the biological plausibility of the two-mode view and the involvement of serotonergic pathways in functions pertaining to it; and studies relating low serotonergic function to impulsiveness, aggression (including extreme violence), aspects of personality, and depression vulnerability. Substantial differences between depression and other phenomena reviewed are interpreted by proposing that depression reflects both low serotonergic function and low reward sensitivity. The article closes with brief consideration of the idea that low serotonergic function relates to even more diverse phenomena, whose natures depend in part on sensitivities of other systems.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.