Program & Abstract Book - EPFL Latsis Symposium 2009

EPFL Latsis Symposium 2009: Understanding Violence
S-15
40
February 11-13 2009
ag g r e s s i o n, s e r o t o n i n , a n D g e n e X e n v i -
r o n m e n t i n t e r a c t i o n s
Suomi, Stephen J.
Laboratory of Comparative Ethology, the National Institute
of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD), National
Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, Maryland
Recent research has disclosed marked individual differences in patterns
of biobehavioral development exhibited by rhesus monkeys across the life
span. For example, approximately 5-10% of rhesus monkeys growing up in
the wild consistently exhibit impulsive and/or inappropriately aggressive responses
to mildly stressful situations throughout development; those same
individuals also show chronic deficits in their central serotonin metabolism.
These characteristic patterns of biobehavioral response emerge early in life
and remain remarkably stable from infancy to adulthood. Laboratory studies
have demonstrated that although these characteristics are highly heritable,
they are also subject to major modification by specific early experiences,
particularly those involving early social attachment relationships.
For example, a specific polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene
is associated with deficits in serotonin metabolism, extreme aggression,
and excessive alcohol consumption among monkeys who have experienced
insecure early attachment relationships but not in monkeys who have developed
secure attachment relationships with their mothers during infancy
(“maternal buffering”). Moreover, because the attachment style of a monkey
mother is typically “copied” by her daughters when they grow up and
become mothers themselves, similar buffering is likely to occur for the next
generation of infants carrying that specific polymorphism.