Summary:
Brunner Syndrome is a rare genetic disorder. Its treatment and prognosis are currently poorly known. Brunner Syndrome was discovered in 1993 by H.G. Brunner. He found a rare genetic defect in male members of a large Dutch family. Brunner found that all of the male family members with this defect reacted aggressively when angry, fearful, or frustrated. For a while, they believed this syndrome was only in men but since then the disease has also been found in females.
Description:
Brunner syndrome is caused by a monoamine oxidase deficiency, also known as MAOA deficiency. This leads to an excess amount of monoamines in the brain, such as serotonin and dopamine. Symptoms of this disorder are extreme mood swings, aggression, lack of impulse control, ADHD like behaviors, low IQ, and night terrors. This syndrome also correlates with other impulsive behavior disorders such as pyromania, and hypersexuality.
As seen in the diagram, this syndrome is an x-linked recessive gene, meaning the carrier is the mother. 1 out of 4 children are bound to get it, and 1 out of four children will be a carrier of it.
News Articles:
In a study done by David Wilson, he wanted to find out what turned people into criminals. He wanted to know why it’s always men who are committing violent acts. He decided to do his own research and scan the brains of murderers. He found that almost all of the murder’s brains did not “look like our brains because of the striking lack of activation in the prefrontal cortex”. As a resolute, these criminals have less of an emotional and behavioral control.
In another study done by the Journal of Clinical Sleep, they studied a 46-year-old patient and his sleeping patterns. He showed that he has a history of nightmares that involve chasing, attacking, and fighting. During the study, the video polysomnography showed he had a REM sleep behavior disorder. They knew this because the patient had excessive muscle activity in the mentalis and limb muscles while sleeping. Researchers came to the conclusion that “REM sleep behavior disorder can be a manifestation of Brunner Syndrome, due to an increased monoaminergic neurotransmission”.
Brunner syndrome, as of right now, has no treatments and is very hard to diagnose. However, there are many different case reports to help people learn more about Brunner Syndrome and its symptoms. For example, an 18 year old male was put into psychiatry due to committing self harm and several suicide attempts. At 22 years old he was hospitalized due to depression. He was put on anti depression medication and was discharged. At 28 years old he was arrested for attempted murder. During his imprisonment he was diagnosed with Brunner Syndrome but only after his younger brothers diagnosis. He went 28 years without knowing whats wrong with him because of the lack of information about Brunner Syndrome.
Reference List:
“REM Sleep Behavior Disorder in Brunner Syndrome”; Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine; https://jcsm.aasm.org/doi/full/10.5664/jcsm.11230.
“David Wilson: Addressing the Age Old Question: What Turns us Into Criminals”; The Herald;https://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/20681561.david-wilson-addressing-age-old-question-turns-us-criminals/.
“Brunner Syndrome: From Genetice to psychiatry” ;National Libary of Medicine; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10479536/.