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Week 1/2011: Violence in the blood

The Finnish everyday horror stories tell of the knife which time and time again gets plunged into the stomach of some “annoying bloke” — enraged by some utterly insignificant reason while binge-drinking.
Geneticists have found explanations for this type of violent rage, which has been typical to the Finnish population from the dawn of genetic Finns.

There is a clear correlation between impulsive, repeatedly violent drunken behaviour and genotype, shows research by Matti Virkkunen, Professor of Forensic Psychiatry, and his colleagues published before the Christmas in the Nature journal.

The researchers analysed the operation of neurotransmitters in approximately 200 Finnish alcoholic men who have both committed violent crimes and belong to the risk group prone to self-destructive behaviour. Their so-called serotonin genes were compared with those of an international control group with over 8,000 individual members.

Seventeen individuals with a history of violent crime had a genetic defect hindering brain metabolism which is practically unknown outside Finland. A little over one per cent of the Finnish population carries this mutation of serotonin receptor 2B (HTR2B).

However, the researchers emphasise that the gene mutation alone does not trigger impulsive violence. Serious problems seem to be related to the mutation only in men with alcohol dependence.

“In my estimation, the genetic defect explains approximately eight per cent of drunken violence in Finland and these are mostly crimes that appear to have been committed with very little outward stimulus and are incomprehensible both to outsiders and, after the fact, usually also to the perpetrators themselves,” says Virkkunen.

Researchers from the University of Helsinki, the National Institute for Health and Welfare, and the US National Institute of Health took part in the research.

Text: Virve Pohjanpalo
Photo: Veikko Somerpuro

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