Citation

Sohrabi S. BMC Proc. 2015; 9(1): 1.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group - BMC)

DOI

10.1186/1753-6561-9-S1-A49

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

BackgroundOne emerging aspect of recent advances in neurocriminology is the discovery of possible links between violent criminal behaviour and genetics. Analysis of data from several studies indicates that the strongest link between genetic variation and aggression comes from monoamine oxidase A (MAOA); a gene encoding an enzyme responsible for catabolising amine neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin and noradrenaline. In this work, we present a critical review of the data available from recent investigations regarding the impact of an allelic variation of the MAOA gene on criminal behaviour.

METHODSThe main approach used in this work was reviewing and analysing data presented in a variety of research papers accessed through electronic search.

RESULTSThe low activity form of the MAOA gene (MAOA-L) has been linked to increased levels of aggression and violence. Data from a 2007 study suggests that MAOA-L individuals are hypersensitive, so are affected more by negative experiences...

Language: en