Prefrontal dysfunction in schizophrenia controlling for COMT Val158Met genotype and working memory performance.
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.
Bertolino
Alessandro
A
Psychiatric Neuroscience Group, Section on Mental Disorders, Department of Psychiatric and Neurological Sciences, University of Bari, Bari, Italy. bertolia@psichiat.uniba.it
Caforio
Grazia
G
Petruzzella
Vittoria
V
Latorre
Valeria
V
Rubino
Valeria
V
Dimalta
Savino
S
Torraco
Alessandra
A
Blasi
Giuseppe
G
Quartesan
Roberto
R
Mattay
Venkata S
VS
Callicott
Joseph H
JH
Weinberger
Daniel R
DR
Scarabino
Tommaso
T
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
D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase