engleski

Biomarkers of Impulsivity

Impulsivity represents a complex human behavior characterized by little or no forethought, reflection, or consideration of the consequences. The definitions of impulsivity include a number of subtraits, such as risk taking, lack of planning, making up one’s mind quickly, acting on the spur of the moment (motor activation), not focusing on the task at hand (attention), and not planning and thinking carefully (lack of planning). Evidence from different genetic and neuroimaging studies suggest that biopsychosocial factors and their interaction affect the development of impulsivity ; however the underlying biological substrates are not yet fully defined. Biological factors are greatly influenced by a variety of genetic and non- genetic factors. Although impulsivity represents one of the diagnostic criteria for several psychiatric disorders, its complex role is still not fully clarified. There is a large body of behavioral, personality, psychological, biological and neurological research on impulsivity, with a great interest in identifying biomarkers associated with this trait. Impulsivity is moderated through a network of different cortical regions such as medial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices, and the subcortical ventral striatum. These results suggest that structures mediating reward related decision-making are associated with impulsivity. Biomarkers are objective, quantifiable characteristics of biological processes. As impulsive behavior has been associated, primarily, with functional changes in serotonergic, dopaminergic, and noradrenergic systems, our aim was to investigate the biological and genetic markers of impulsivity, especially those related to dopaminergic and serotonergic systems in children and adolescents. In this chapter we have presented the results regarding association of impulsivity with peripheral biochemical markers such as platelet serotonin (5-HT) concentration and platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO-B) activity. Moreover, we have investigated the potential genetic markers of impulsivity, such as different variants of the genes encoding catechol-o-methyl transferase (COMT), dopamine-beta-hydroxylase (DBH), monoamine oxidase type B (MAO-B), dopamine receptor type 4 (DRD4) and serotonin transporter (5-HTT). Our findings might contribute to a more complete understanding of the etiology of impulsive behavior and lead to improvements in the treatment of a variety of psychiatric disorders.

impulsivity, children, adolescents, ADHD, symptoms, biomarkers, platelet serotonin, platelet monoamine oxidase type B, catechol-o-methyl transferase, dopamine-beta-hydroxylase, dopamine receptor type 4 ; serotonin transporter (5-HTT)

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