Why Some People Discount More than Others: Baseline Activation in the Dorsal PFC Mediates the Link between COMT Genotype and Impatient Choice.

Frontiers in Neuroscience
Lorena R R GianottiDaria Knoch

Abstract

Individuals differ widely in how steeply they discount future rewards. The sources of these stable individual differences in delay discounting (DD) are largely unknown. One candidate is the COMT Val158Met polymorphism, known to modulate prefrontal dopamine levels and affect DD. To identify possible neural mechanisms by which this polymorphism may contribute to stable individual DD differences, we measured 73 participants' neural baseline activation using resting electroencephalogram (EEG). Such neural baseline activation measures are highly heritable and stable over time, thus an ideal endophenotype candidate to explain how genes may influence behavior via individual differences in neural function. After EEG-recording, participants made a series of incentive-compatible intertemporal choices to determine the steepness of their DD. We found that COMT significantly affected DD and that this effect was mediated by baseline activation level in the left dorsal prefrontal cortex (DPFC): (i) COMT had a significant effect on DD such that the number of Val alleles was positively correlated with steeper DD (higher numbers of Val alleles means greater COMT activity and thus lower dopamine levels). (ii) A whole-brain search identified a clu...Continue Reading

Citations

Feb 3, 2016·Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience·Karin FoerdeDaphna Shohamy
Sep 24, 2015·NeuroImage·Gabriel J AranovichDaniel H Mathalon
Sep 6, 2015·Experimental Brain Research·Cinzia CallusoAnnalisa Tosoni
Aug 19, 2015·Psychiatry Research·Bariş O Yildirim, Jan J L Derksen
Jan 7, 2014·Journal of Gambling Studies·Casey R GuillotMitchell E Berman
Apr 18, 2015·Frontiers in Human Neuroscience·Silvia Solís-OrtizMayra Gutiérrez-Muñoz
Feb 3, 2015·Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience·Kyle NashDaria Knoch
Mar 29, 2014·Frontiers in Neuroscience·Todd A HareAntonio Rangel
Feb 23, 2017·Scientific Reports·Alec SolwayP Read Montague
Jan 29, 2019·Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience·Bastian SchillerDaria Knoch
Dec 12, 2017·Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience·Lorena R R GianottiDaria Knoch
Oct 31, 2018·Brain Imaging and Behavior·Christopher HolmesLawrence H Sweet
Sep 30, 2018·Brain Topography·Lorena R R GianottiDaria Knoch
Feb 23, 2017·Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience·Narun PornpattananangkulRobin Nusslock
Jul 14, 2018·Scientific Reports·Lorena R R GianottiDaria Knoch
Jan 25, 2020·Perspectives on Behavior Science·Suzanne H Mitchell
Mar 9, 2021·Behavioural Brain Research·Gaia LapomardaAlessandro Grecucci
May 4, 2021·Frontiers in Psychology·Kristof KeidelUlrich Ettinger
Sep 26, 2021·The European Journal of Neuroscience·Josh LeotaKyle Nash

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
genotyping

Software Mentioned

sLORETA

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