title: COMT genotype and its role on hippocampal-prefrontal regions in declarative memory.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Memory dysfunction is a prominent feature in schizophrenia. Impairments of declarative memory have been consistently linked to alterations especially within hippocampal-prefrontal regions. Due to the high heritability of schizophrenia, susceptibility genes and their modulatory impact on the neural correlates on memory are of major relevance. In the present study the influence of the COMT val(158)met status on the neural correlates of declarative memory was investigated in healthy subjects.
  
  
  METHODS
  From an initial behavioural sample of 522 healthy individuals (Sheldrick et al., 2008), 84 subjects underwent fMRI scanning while performing a memory encoding and a retrieval task. The COMT val(158)met status was determined for the whole sample and correlated with cortical activation within the group of n=84 individuals.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no effects of COMT status on behavioural performance. For declarative memory processing the number of met alleles predicted circumscribed bilateral insula and anterior hippocampus activations during memory encoding as well as less deactivations within the bilateral posterior parahippocampal gyri during memory retrieval.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although declarative memory performance was unaffected, the neural correlates within hippocampal-prefrontal regions demonstrate a link between COMT val(158)met carrier status and brain areas associated with declarative memory processing. The study contributes to a better understanding of the role that susceptibility genes might play in the aetiology of schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Section of Brain Imaging, Philipps-University Marburg, Rudolf-Bultmann-Str. 8, 35039 Marburg, Germany. krachs@med.uni-marburg.de
authors.forename: Sören
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Krach
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jansen
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Krug
authors.forename: Valentin
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Markov
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thimm
authors.forename: Abigail J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Sheldrick
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Eggermann
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zerres
authors.forename: Tony
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stöcker
authors.forename: N Jon
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: Tilo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kircher
mesh_terms: D001931:Brain Mapping; D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000235:genetics; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase