COMT val158met predicts reward responsiveness in humans

Lancaster, T. M., Linden, David Edmund Johannes ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5638-9292 and Heerey, E. A. 2012. COMT val158met predicts reward responsiveness in humans. Genes, Brain and Behavior 11 (8) , pp. 986-992. 10.1111/j.1601-183X.2012.00838.x

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

A functional variant of the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene [val158met (rs4680)] is frequently implicated in decision-making and higher cognitive functions. It may achieve its effects by modulating dopamine-related decision-making and reward-guided behaviour. Here we demonstrate that individuals with the met/met polymorphism have greater responsiveness to reward than carriers of the val allele and that this correlates with risk-seeking behaviour. We assessed performance on a reward responsiveness task and the Balloon analogue risk task, which measure how participants (N = 70, western European, university and postgraduate students) respond to reward and take risks in the presence of available reward. Individuals with the met/met genotype (n = 19) showed significantly higher reward responsiveness, F2,64 = 4.02, P = 0.02, and reward-seeking behaviour, F(2,68) = 4.52, P = 0.01, than did either val/met (n = 25) or val/val (n = 26) carriers. These results highlight a scenario in which genotype-dependent reward responsiveness shapes reward-seeking, therefore suggesting a novel framework by which COMT may modulate behaviour.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics (CNGG) Medicine Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute (NMHRI)
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology Q Science > QH Natural history > QH426 Genetics R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	COMT, decision-making, dopamine, genetics, individual differences, reward, risk-taking
Publisher:	Wiley-Blackwell
ISSN:	1601-1848
Last Modified:	24 Oct 2022 09:48
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/42218

Citation Data

Cited 31 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item