Assessing the molecular genetics of attention networks

TY - JOUR

T1 - Assessing the molecular genetics of attention networks

AU - Fossella, John

AU - Sommer-Blöchl, Tobias

AU - Fan, Jin

AU - Wu, Yanhong

AU - Swanson, James M

AU - Pfaff, Donald W

AU - Posner, Michael I

PY - 2002/10/4

Y1 - 2002/10/4

N2 - BACKGROUND: Current efforts to study the genetic underpinnings of higher brain functions have been lacking appropriate phenotypes to describe cognition. One of the problems is that many cognitive concepts for which there is a single word (e.g. attention) have been shown to be related to several anatomical networks. Recently, we have developed an Attention Network Test (ANT) that provides a separate measure for each of three anatomically defined attention networks.RESULTS: In this study we have measured the efficiency of neural networks related to aspects of attention using the ANT in a population of 200 adult subjects. We then examined genetic polymorphisms in four candidate genes (DRD4, DAT, COMT and MAOA) that have been shown to contribute to the risk of developing various psychiatric disorders where attention is disrupted. We find modest associations of several polymorphisms with the efficiency of executive attention but not with overall performance measures such as reaction time.CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that genetic variation may underlie inter-subject variation in the efficiency of executive attention. This study also shows that genetic influences on executive attention may be specific to certain anatomical networks rather than affecting performance in a global or non-specific manner. Lastly, this study further validates the ANT as an endophenotypic assay suitable for assessing how genes influence certain anatomical networks that may be disrupted in various psychiatric disorders.

AB - BACKGROUND: Current efforts to study the genetic underpinnings of higher brain functions have been lacking appropriate phenotypes to describe cognition. One of the problems is that many cognitive concepts for which there is a single word (e.g. attention) have been shown to be related to several anatomical networks. Recently, we have developed an Attention Network Test (ANT) that provides a separate measure for each of three anatomically defined attention networks.RESULTS: In this study we have measured the efficiency of neural networks related to aspects of attention using the ANT in a population of 200 adult subjects. We then examined genetic polymorphisms in four candidate genes (DRD4, DAT, COMT and MAOA) that have been shown to contribute to the risk of developing various psychiatric disorders where attention is disrupted. We find modest associations of several polymorphisms with the efficiency of executive attention but not with overall performance measures such as reaction time.CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that genetic variation may underlie inter-subject variation in the efficiency of executive attention. This study also shows that genetic influences on executive attention may be specific to certain anatomical networks rather than affecting performance in a global or non-specific manner. Lastly, this study further validates the ANT as an endophenotypic assay suitable for assessing how genes influence certain anatomical networks that may be disrupted in various psychiatric disorders.

KW - Adolescent

KW - Adult

KW - Alleles

KW - Attention

KW - Catechol O-Methyltransferase

KW - Cognition

KW - Dopamine

KW - Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins

KW - Female

KW - Gene Frequency

KW - Genetic Testing

KW - Humans

KW - Male

KW - Membrane Glycoproteins

KW - Membrane Transport Proteins

KW - Middle Aged

KW - Monoamine Oxidase

KW - Nerve Net

KW - Nerve Tissue Proteins

KW - Neuropsychological Tests

KW - Reaction Time

KW - Receptors, Dopamine D2

KW - Receptors, Dopamine D4

KW - Reference Values

KW - Sex Factors

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

C2 - 12366871

VL - 3

SP - 14

JO - BMC NEUROSCI

JF - BMC NEUROSCI

SN - 1471-2202

ER -