title: Association of serotonin transporter genotype with selective processing of smoking-related stimuli in current smokers and ex-smokers.
abstract: We sought to determine whether polymorphism in the serotonin transporter (5HTT) gene is associated with attentional bias toward smoking-related stimuli in current smokers and ex-smokers, using a modified Stroop task and an attentional blink task to measure selective processing of smoking-related stimuli. All participants attended a single testing session during which they completed the modified Stroop and attentional blink tasks to index attentional bias for smoking-related stimuli, in counterbalanced order. The experimental design included two between-subjects factors of smoking status (current smoker, ex-smoker) and 5HTT genotype (short, long). Smoking status x genotype interactions were significant on both the modified Stroop (p = .046) and the attentional blink (p = .006) tasks. On the modified Stroop task, we found a significant effect of 5HTT genotype on color-naming interference among ex-smokers (p = .018) but not current smokers (p = .989). On the attentional blink task, we found a significant effect of 5HTT genotype for current smokers (p = .028), whereas among ex-smokers this effect did not reach statistical significance, although it constituted a trend (p = .086). Our data provide tentative support for a moderating influence of 5HTT genotype on attentional bias for smoking-related stimuli in ex-smokers. This finding may account for inconsistent reports of attentional bias among ex-smokers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, United Kingdom. marcus.munafo@bris.ac.uk
authors.forename: Marcus R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Munafò
authors.forename: Elaine C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Johnstone
authors.forename: Bundy
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mackintosh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D001767:Blinking; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D012907:Smoking / Q000235:genetics*; D016540:Smoking Cessation; D014796:Visual Perception
chemical_list: D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins