Neural processing of dyspnea in relation to the SLC6A4-genotype and different emotional contexts

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Andreas von Leupoldt
• Subject Area: Personality Psychology, Clinical and Medical Psychology, Methodology ; Human Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience
• Term: from 2008 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 81016512

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a prevalent and severe airway disease and associated with high emotional burden due to co morbid anxiety and depression. Dyspnea (breathlessness) is the highly aversive and limiting cardinal symptom. Negative emotionality is often related to increased perception of dyspnea, however, respective findings in patients with COPD are still limited and the particular influence of specific dyspnea-related anxiety is widely unknown. Also the neural processing of dyspnea is not well understood, especially imaging studies examining the respective impact of negative emotionality as well as studies in patients with COPD are missing. Moreover, the influence of genetic variations on perception and neural processing of dyspnea is unknown.Therefore, the planned research project will examine the perception and neural processing of dyspnea in relation to negative emotionality, specific dyspnea-related anxiety and variations in the serotonin transporter gene SLC6A4, which is related to negative emotionality. In three interconnected studies using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) functional activation patterns as well as structural specifics will be analyzed in genetically stratified samples of healthy individuals and patients with COPD. Dyspnea will be induced by resistive load breathing in the MRI-scanner and partly be emotionally modulated by experimental manipulations with regional cerebral blood flow allowing inferences on activated brain areas. We expect associations between negative emotionality as well as dyspnea-related anxiety and brain activations in the emotion-related limbic system, which are particularly prominent in risk-allele carriers of the serotonin transporter gene. Moreover, respective associations with activity avoidance and reduced functional capacity will be tested.Results of this interdisciplinary project will create urgently needed basic knowledge on perception and neural processing of dyspnea and, thus, might potentially contribute to reductions in the burden of disease in patients with COPD.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants