Structural differences in adult orbital and ventromedial prefrontal cortex predicted by infant temperament at 4 months of age.

Context: The term temperament refers to a biologically based predilection for a distinctive pattern of emotions, cognitions, and behaviors first observed in infancy or early childhood. High-reactive infants are characterized at age 4 months by vigorous motor activity and crying in response to unfamiliar visual, auditory, and olfactory stimuli, whereas low-reactive infants show low motor activity and low vocal distress to the same stimuli. High-reactive infants are biased to become behaviorally inhibited in the second year of life, defined by timidity with unfamiliar people, objects, and situations.

The genetic basis of panic and phobic anxiety disorders.

Panic disorder and phobic anxiety disorders are common disorders that are often chronic and disabling. Genetic epidemiologic studies have documented that these disorders are familial and moderately heritable. Linkage studies have implicated several chromosomal regions that may harbor susceptibility genes; however, candidate gene association studies have not established a role for any specific loci to date.