The drop in levels of the brain neurotransmitter known asserotonin, which usually occurs when someone has not eaten or is stressed, affects healthy peoplebrain regions that allow you to control anger, according to a study by Cambridge University (UK) published in the journalBiological Psychiatry.
To develop this study, the serotonin levels of healthy volunteers were altered by manipulating the content of their diet. While one day they were supplied with a mixture of amino acids withtryptophan, which increases the level of serotonin in the blood, in the second trial the volunteers received the same mixture but without tryptophan. By then analyzing the volunteers’ brains with functional magnetic resonance imaging while they saw faces with expressions of anger, sadness and neutrality, the neuroscientists found thatlow serotonin levels cause communication between specific brain regions of the emotional limbic system-a structure called amygdala-and the frontal lobes are weakerthan when serotonin levels are normal.
Using a personality questionnaire, the researchers further discovered that in the volunteers exhibited a natural tendency to behave aggressively, the communications between the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex were even weaker after the decrease in serotonin.
An earlier study published earlier this year in the same journal revealed thatthe way we see our own or others’ intimate relationships, and the perception of “romanticism”, are also linked to the action of serotonin.
