title: Prefrontal dysfunction in schizophrenia controlling for COMT Val158Met genotype and working memory performance.
abstract: Earlier studies with functional imaging in schizophrenia have demonstrated dysfunction of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during working memory. Controlling for behavioral performance and for catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met genotype, we here demonstrate in a functional magnetic resonance imaging paradigm that patients recruit greater neuronal resources in prefrontal cortex during working memory, suggesting that this phenotype is a core functional trait of the disease. We also replicated earlier findings that the Val allele of the COMT polymorphism is associated with greater engagement of the prefrontal cortex.
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric Neuroscience Group, Section on Mental Disorders, Department of Psychiatric and Neurological Sciences, University of Bari, Bari, Italy. bertolia@psichiat.uniba.it
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bertolino
authors.forename: Grazia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Caforio
authors.forename: Vittoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Petruzzella
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Latorre
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rubino
authors.forename: Savino
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dimalta
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Torraco
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Blasi
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Quartesan
authors.forename: Venkata S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Mattay
authors.forename: Joseph H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Callicott
authors.forename: Daniel R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Weinberger
authors.forename: Tommaso
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Scarabino
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase / Q000235:genetics*; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000235:genetics*; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010641:Phenotype; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase