Lack of Association Between COMT and Working Memory in a Population-Based Cohort of Healthy Young Adults
Year: 2013
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: The Val158Met polymorphism of the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene is an important regulator of dopamine in the prefrontal cortex, an area critical to working memory. Working memory deficits are present in several psychiatric disorders, and there is wide variation in working memory capacity in the normal population. Association studies of COMT and working memory in healthy volunteers have yielded inconsistent results, possibly because of small sample sizes. Here we examine COMT in relation to N-Back working memory task performance in a large population-based cohort of young adults. We predicted individuals with one or two copies of the Met allele would perform better, and that this relationship would be more evident in males than females. Participants (N=1857-2659) tested at 18 years of age, were enrolled in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). We used multiple regression to examine effects of sex and COMT genotype on N-Back hits, false positives, discriminability (d'), and reaction time while controlling for important covariates. COMT genotype did not predict hits or d'. There was a nominally significant interaction between COMT and sex on false positives, but this was not in the predicted direction, and was not significant after controlling for covariates. COMT genotype was not related to working memory in this large population-based cohort. It is possible COMT is not meaningfully associated with working memory in healthy young adults, or that COMT effects are detectable only in assessments reflecting neural processes underlying cognition, such as fMRI, rather than in behavioral performance.
Source: Neuropsychopharmacology
DOI: 10.1038/npp.2013.24
Institutions: University of Chicago, University of Bristol
Language: English
Subfield: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $5,290
Awards: G4182683118, G4884678108, The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children: An international resource for population genomics and lifecourse epidemiology. Core Programme Support 2011-2013., Depression at 17: ALSPAC., G6737906592, Determinants of Drug Preference in Humans, Characterising patterns and determinants of smoking initiation in adolescence.
OpenAlex ID: W2096453127