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Zhao W, Huang L, Li Y, Zhang Q, Chen X, Fu W, Du B, Deng X, Ji F, Xiang YT, Wang C, Li X, Dong Q, Chen C, Jaeggi SM, Li J. Evidence for the contribution of COMT gene Val158/108Met polymorphism (rs4680) to working memory training-related prefrontal plasticity. Brain Behav 2020; 10:e01523. [PMID: 31917897 PMCID: PMC7010579 DOI: 10.1002/brb3.1523] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2019] [Revised: 11/28/2019] [Accepted: 12/07/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Genetic factors have been suggested to affect the efficacy of working memory training. However, few studies have attempted to identify the relevant genes. METHODS In this study, we first performed a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to identify brain regions that were specifically affected by working memory training. Sixty undergraduate students were randomly assigned to either the adaptive training group (N = 30) or the active control group (N = 30). Both groups were trained for 20 sessions during 4 weeks and received fMRI scans before and after the training. Afterward, we combined the data from the 30 participants in the RCT study who received adaptive training with data from 71 additional participants who also received the same adaptive training but were not part of the RCT study (total N = 101) to test the contribution of the COMT Val158/108Met polymorphism to the interindividual difference in the training effect within the identified brain regions. RESULTS In the RCT study, we found that the adaptive training significantly decreased brain activation in the left prefrontal cortex (TFCE-FWE corrected p = .030). In the genetic study, we found that compared with the Val allele homozygotes, the Met allele carriers' brain activation decreased more after the training at the left prefrontal cortex (TFCE-FWE corrected p = .025). CONCLUSIONS This study provided evidence for the neural effect of a visual-spatial span training and suggested that genetic factors such as the COMT Val158/108Met polymorphism may have to be considered in future studies of such training.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wan Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Ling Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Yang Li
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Qiumei Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.,School of Mental Health, Jining Medical University, Jining, China
| | - Xiongying Chen
- The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders & Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders Center of Schizophrenia, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Wenjin Fu
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Boqi Du
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaoxiang Deng
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Feng Ji
- School of Mental Health, Jining Medical University, Jining, China
| | - Yu-Tao Xiang
- Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Taipa, China
| | - Chuanyue Wang
- The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders & Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders Center of Schizophrenia, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaohong Li
- The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders & Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders Center of Schizophrenia, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Qi Dong
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Chuansheng Chen
- Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Susanne M Jaeggi
- School of Education & Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Jun Li
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
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Lage GM, Miranda DM, Romano-Silva MA, Campos SB, Albuquerque MR, Corrêa H, Malloy-Diniz LF. Association between the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met polymorphism and manual aiming control in healthy subjects. PLoS One 2014; 9:e99698. [PMID: 24956262 PMCID: PMC4067272 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0099698] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2014] [Accepted: 05/17/2014] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Prefrontal dopamine is catabolized by the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) enzyme. Current evidence suggests that the val/met single nucleotide polymorphism in the COMT gene can predict the efficiency of executive cognition in humans. Individuals carrying the val allele perform more poorly because less synaptic dopamine is available. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We investigated the influence of the COMT polymorphism on motor performance in a task that requires different executive functions. We administered a manual aiming motor task that was performed under four different conditions of execution by 111 healthy participants. Participants were grouped according to genotype (met/met, met/val, val/val), and the motor performance among groups was compared. Overall, the results indicate that met/met carriers presented lower levels of peak velocity during the movement trajectory than the val carriers, but met/met carriers displayed higher accuracy than the val carriers. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE This study found a significant association between the COMT polymorphism and manual aiming control. Few studies have investigated the genetics of motor control, and these findings indicate that individual differences in motor control require further investigation using genetic studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guilherme M. Lage
- Grupo de Estudo em Desenvolvimento Motor e Aprendizagem Motora (GEDAM), Departamento de Educação Física, Escola de Educação Física, Fisioterapia e Terapia Ocupacional, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
- Laboratório de Investigações em Neurociências Clínicas (LINC), Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
- INCT de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Débora M. Miranda
- Laboratório de Investigações em Neurociências Clínicas (LINC), Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
- INCT de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
- Departamento de Pediatria, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Marco A. Romano-Silva
- Laboratório de Investigações em Neurociências Clínicas (LINC), Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
- INCT de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
- Departamento de Saúde Mental, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Simone B. Campos
- INCT de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Maicon R. Albuquerque
- Laboratório de Investigações em Neurociências Clínicas (LINC), Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
- INCT de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
- Departamento de Educação Física, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Humberto Corrêa
- Laboratório de Investigações em Neurociências Clínicas (LINC), Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
- INCT de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
- Departamento de Saúde Mental, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Leandro F. Malloy-Diniz
- Laboratório de Investigações em Neurociências Clínicas (LINC), Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
- INCT de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
- Departamento de Pediatria, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
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Wang Y, Li J, Chen C, Chen C, Zhu B, Moysis RK, Lei X, Li H, Liu Q, Xiu D, Liu B, Chen W, Xue G, Dong Q. COMT rs4680 Met is not always the 'smart allele': Val allele is associated with better working memory and larger hippocampal volume in healthy Chinese. GENES BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR 2013; 12:323-9. [PMID: 23421762 DOI: 10.1111/gbb.12022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2012] [Revised: 10/10/2012] [Accepted: 01/14/2013] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met (rs4680) polymorphism plays a crucial role in regulating brain dopamine level. Converging evidence from Caucasian samples showed that, compared with rs4680 Val allele, the Met allele was linked to lower COMT activity, which in turn was linked to better cognitive performance such as working memory (WM) and to a larger hippocampus (a brain region important for WM). However, some behavioral studies have shown that the function of rs4680 appears to vary across different ethnic groups, with Chinese subjects showing an opposite pattern as that for Caucasians (i.e. the Val allele is linked to better cognitive functions related to WM in Chinese). Using a sample of healthy Han Chinese college students (ages from 19 to 21 years), this study investigated the association of COMT Val158Met genotype with behavioral data on a two-back WM task (n = 443, 189M/254F) and T1 MRI data (n = 320, 134M/186F). Results showed that, compared to the Met allele, the Val allele was associated with larger hippocampal volume (the right hippocampus: β = -0.118, t = -2.367, P = 0.019, and the left hippocampus: β = -0.099, t = -1.949, P = 0.052) and better WM performance (β = -0.110, t = -2.315, P = 0.021). These results add to the growing literature on differentiated effects of COMT rs4680 polymorphism on WM across populations and offer a brain structural mechanism for such population-specific genetic effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Y Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
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