Neural substrates of pleiotropic action of genetic variation in COMT: a meta-analysis

D Mier, P Kirsch, A Meyer-Lindenberg - Molecular psychiatry, 2010 - nature.com
Molecular psychiatry, 2010nature.com
Genetic variation in catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), encoding an enzyme critical for
prefrontal dopamine flux, has been studied extensively using both behavioral and
neuroimaging methods. In behavior, pleiotropic action of a functional Val 158 Met (rs4680)
polymorphism on executive cognition and emotional stability has been described and
proposed to be of evolutionary significance (the 'warrior/worrier'hypothesis). We conducted a
meta-analysis of all available neuroimaging studies of rs4680 to investigate the evidence for …
Abstract
Genetic variation in catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), encoding an enzyme critical for prefrontal dopamine flux, has been studied extensively using both behavioral and neuroimaging methods. In behavior, pleiotropic action of a functional Val 158 Met (rs4680) polymorphism on executive cognition and emotional stability has been described and proposed to be of evolutionary significance (the ‘warrior/worrier’hypothesis). We conducted a meta-analysis of all available neuroimaging studies of rs4680 to investigate the evidence for a neural substrate of this behavioral pleiotropy. We show significant association between the COMT genotype and prefrontal activation, with large (d= 0.73) effect size without evidence for publication bias. Strong and opposing effects were found for executive cognition paradigms (favoring Met allele carriers) and emotional paradigms (favoring Val), providing meta-analytical evidence for a neural substrate for the pleiotropic behavioral effects of COMT genetic variation and validating the use of intermediate phenotypes as a method to bridge between genes and behavior.
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