The correlation between mid-brain serotonin transporter availability and intelligence quotient in healthy volunteers

P Y Tseng; I H Lee; K C Chen; P S Chen; N T Chiu; W J Yao; C L Chu; T L Yeh; Y K Yang

doi:10.1016/j.eurpsy.2014.09.001

The correlation between mid-brain serotonin transporter availability and intelligence quotient in healthy volunteers

Eur Psychiatry. 2015 Feb;30(2):193-7. doi: 10.1016/j.eurpsy.2014.09.001. Epub 2014 Oct 28.

Authors

P Y Tseng¹, I H Lee², K C Chen³, P S Chen³, N T Chiu⁴, W J Yao⁴, C L Chu¹, T L Yeh², Y K Yang⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
² Department of Psychiatry, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan; Addiction Research Center, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
³ Department of Psychiatry, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan; Addiction Research Center, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan; Department of Psychiatry, National Cheng Kung University, Dou-Liou Branch, Yunlin, Taiwan.
⁴ Department of Nuclear Medicine, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan; Addiction Research Center, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan. Electronic address: ykyang@mail.ncku.edu.tw.

PMID: 25447350
DOI: 10.1016/j.eurpsy.2014.09.001

Abstract

Purpose: This study was performed to investigate the association between the mid-brain serotonin transporter (SERT) availability and intelligence quotient (IQ).

Methods: One hundred and thirteen healthy participants, including 52 male and 61 female subjects, were recruited. We used SPECT with [(123)I]ADAM images to determine the SERT availability in the mid-brain, and measured the subjects' IQ using the WAIS-R.

Results: We found a significant positive correlation between the mid-brain SERT availability and the IQ of the participants. Even when controlling for age and sex, the significant association still existed.

Conclusion: This result implied that the higher the SERT binding in the mid-brain, the better the IQ in healthy participants.

Keywords: Cognitive function; Intelligence quotient; SPECT; Serotonin transporter availability; [(123)I]ADAM.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Brain / metabolism*
Female
Healthy Volunteers
Humans
Intelligence*
Iodine Radioisotopes
Male
Neuroimaging / methods
Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / metabolism*
Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / methods

Substances

Iodine Radioisotopes
Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins