Cognitive and emotional processing associated with the Season of Birth and dopamine D4 receptor gene

Panos Roussos, Stella G. Giakoumaki, Panos Bitsios

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

The 7-repeats variant of the dopamine D4 receptor (7R) VNTR polymorphism has been associated with higher novelty seeking (NS) and disadvantageous decision making in the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). Season of Birth (SOB) is a significant determinant of NS. SOB and L-DRD4 genetic polymorphism may independently and interactively influence similar behaviors through their common effects on the dopaminergic system. Two hundred and twenty-seven healthy males grouped in summer-born/4-repeats (4R) (n= 75), winter-born/4R (n= 90), summer-born/7R (n= 31) and winter-born/7R (n= 31) groups, completed multimodal assessment for personality, planning for problem solving and decision making. Winter-born/7R subjects had significantly worse IGT performance throughout the task compared to 4R individuals, while summer-born 7R subjects had intermediate, although not significantly different performance. Moreover, winter-born/7R subjects had increased behavioral approach to reward without parallel reduction in sensitivity to fear or to social approval cues. The DRD4-by-SOB groups did not differ in planning for problem solving. These results suggest that a DRD4-by-SOB interaction is associated with increased behavioral approach to reward and risk taking but efficient problem solving. In addition, these results further support the hypothesis that SOB modifies the behavioral expression of dopaminergic genetic polymorphism. SOB should be included in future studies of risky behaviors and behavioral genetic studies of the dopamine system.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3926-3933
Number of pages8
JournalNeuropsychologia
Volume48
Issue number13
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2010
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Decision making
  • Dopamine D4 receptor
  • Iowa Gambling Task
  • Novelty seeking
  • Season of Birth

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