Brain serotonin levels as a predictor of suicide has been the subject of intense research scrutiny over the past several years, with scientists trying to find easily accessible markers so that the neurotransmitter's levels might someday be readily measured in clinical settings.
One of the leading investigators of this biological indicator is Australian-born J. John Mann, M.D., professor of psychiatry at Columbia University and chief of the department of neuroscience at New York State Psychiatric Institute, who recently presented current knowledge on the subject to a packed room at the historic Harvard Club of New York City.
The evening event, hosted by the American Suicide Foundation and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, was a prelude to the foundation's annual Lifesavers Dinner held the following night at the Waldorf-Astoria. There, Mann-in addition to former governor Mario Cuomo and actress Heather Locklear-received foundation awards.
Preceding Mann's Harvard Club lecture, two new researchers funded by the foundation briefly discussed their ongoing studies. Dorothy E. Grice, M.D., postdoctoral research fellow in child psychiatry at the Yale Child Study Center, talked about exploring genetic roots of abnormal levels of serotonin that are present in suicidal teenagers. Susan I. Wolk, M.D., research fellow in anxiety and affective disorders at New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University, outlined a study of serotonin tests as predictors of suicide in a cohort of patients formerly treated for major depression while they were children.
Mann's talk, titled "The Neurobiology of Suicide," reviewed different tests that characterize chemical abnormalities found in the brains of people who carried out serious suicide attempts or successfully committed suicide. He discussed his research group's efforts to validate these tests and move them out of the laboratory and into clinical practice.
Showing a slide depicting a graph of suicide and suicide attempts, Mann said rates of attempts to completions are about 10 to 1, depending on the study.
"With 30,000 suicides a year-the eighth leading cause of death in the U.S.-and 300,000 attempts annually, this gives you an idea of the magnitude of the problem," Mann pointed out.
