In the first study, two-thirds of the Albanians surveyed reported being deprived of food and water, being in a combat situation, and being close to death. More than half had been forced to flee their homes, and nearly 40 percent had experienced at least eight specific traumatic events, from the murder of a family member to rape.
Not surprisingly, the researchers found a high rate of psychiatric disorder amongst the survivors. What surprised them was how high this figure was – 43 percent, twice their expectations. Adopting less conservative criteria raised the incidence to 83.5 percent.
A study of the Serbian population remaining in Kosovo also surprised researchers, as their findings virtually matched those involving the Albanians.
Psychiatry’s Big Bang
At the 2003 APA annual meeting, Daniel Weinberger MD of the NIMH reported on a study he published a year earlier with lead author Ahmad Hariri PhD. Here, the researchers divided 28 subjects into two groups, those who had a certain gene variation known as the short allele to the serotonin transporter gene SLC6A4 (or 5HTT) and those with – predictably enough – the long allele.
The subjects were placed in a brain scan machine and completed a simple exercise involving looking at the images of scary faces. The scans revealed that for those with the short allele, a certain part of their brain lit up like a Christmas tree. This part of the brain is called the amygdala, a tiny, almond-shaped region which governs fear and arousal.
As Dr Weinberger explained to his audience: “This could be the first study to link genes to emotions.”
Meanwhile, a research team from Kings College and the University of Wisconsin (Avshalom Caspi PhD, lead author) surveyed a New Zealand population for stressful events over the past five years, such as death in the family, losing a job, or breakup with a partner.
Lo and behold, among those meeting the criteria for four recent stressful events, 43 percent of those with this very same short allele to the serotonin transporter gene experienced depression, versus just 17 percent with the long allele.
