Amygdala response to anticipation of dyspnea is modulated by 5-HTTLPRgenotype

Dyspnea anticipation and perception varies largely between individuals. To investigate whether genetic factors related to negative affect such as the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism impact this variability, we investigated healthy, 5-HTTLPR stratified volunteers using resistive load induced dyspnea together with fMRI. Alternating blocks of severe and mild dyspnea ("perception") were differentially cued ("anticipation") and followed by intensity and unpleasantness ratings. In addition, volunteers indicated their anticipatory fear during the anticipation periods. There were no genotype-based group differences concerning dyspnea intensity and unpleasantness or brain activation during perception of sever…