HTR2A gene polymorphisms and Inward and Outward Personal Meaning Organisations

Nardi B, Piva F, Turchi C, Giulietti M, Castellucci G, Arimatea E, Rocchetti D, Rocchetti G, Principato G, Tagliabracci A, Bellantuono C. HTR2A gene polymorphisms and Inward and Outward Personal Meaning Organisations.Objective:Caregiver behaviours and emotional expressions may induce development of two basic categories of constructing identity and of regulating cognitive and emotional processes: an Inward or an Outward Personal Meaning Organisation (PMO). Inwards read environmental signals through their internal activations. Their emotions are more distinct, and reciprocity is more based on physical distance (protection, loneliness). Outwards read internal activations through the environment. Their emotions are more blurred, and reciprocity is more based on a semantic sight of relations (approval, rules).It has recently been shown that PMO development may also have physiological and genetic bases. In a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, Inward and Outward subjects showed different amygdala activation patterns and an association with the SLC6A4 serotonin transporter gene 5-HTTLPR polymorphism.Methods:In this work, 149 healthy subjects were examined with respect to Inward and Outward PMOs. We explored the association with 10 serotonin receptor 2A (HTR2A) gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) selected by bioinformatics methods.Results:An intronic SNP (rs55948462) was found to be significantly associated with an Inward and an Outward PMOs development. However, after statistical adjustments, these results did not remain significant.Conclusion:We did not find associations between considered SNPs and Inward/Outward PMOs. However, the role of HTR2A polymorphisms was not considered in this study and that of the other serotonin-related genes should be valued.