title: Association between dopamine D4 receptor exon III polymorphism and emotional reactivity as a temperamental trait.
abstract: The association between high and low levels of emotional reactivity (ER) as a temperamental trait and the dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) exon III polymorphism in healthy men aged 18 to 27 (M = 21.03, SD = 2.23) was examined. ER, measured by the Formal Characteristics of Behavior-Temperament Inventory (FCB-TI), is defined as a tendency to react intensively to emotion-generating stimuli and is expressed in high emotional sensitivity and in low emotional endurance. Data analysis demonstrated a statistically significant difference in the distribution of genotypic frequencies between the low and high ER groups: chi2 = 4.88; df = 1; p = .027, odds ratio (OR) =2.85, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.11-7.32. An insignificant difference in allele frequencies between the two groups was noted: chi(2) = 7.47; df = 3; p = .058; OR = 2.9, 95% CI = 1.29-6.53. These findings suggest a role of the DRD4 exon III polymorphism in the modulation of ER as a temperamental trait. Due to the preliminary nature of our findings, replication is necessary.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland. wlodek@engram.psych.uw.edu.pl
authors.forename: Wlodzimierz
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Oniszczenko
authors.forename: Wojciech L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Dragan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005091:Exons / Q000235:genetics*; D005787:Gene Frequency; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci / Q000235:genetics*; D050638:Receptors, Dopamine D4 / Q000235:genetics*; D013694:Temperament / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D050638:Receptors, Dopamine D4