title: The Met-allele of the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism enhances task switching in elderly.
abstract: In this study we examined the relevance of the functional brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Val66Met polymorphism as a modulator of task-switching performance in healthy elderly by using behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) measures. Task switching was examined in a cue-based and a memory-based paradigm. Val/Val carriers were generally slower, showed enhanced reaction time variability and higher error rates, particularly during memory-based task switching than the Met-allele individuals. On a neurophysiological level these dissociative effects were reflected by variations in the N2 and P3 ERP components. The task switch-related N2 was increased while the P3 was decreased in Met-allele carriers, while the Val/Val genotype group revealed the opposite pattern of results. In cue-based task-switching no behavioral and ERP differences were seen between the genotypes. These data suggest that superior memory-based task-switching performance in elderly Met-allele carriers may emerge due to more efficient response selection processes. The results implicate that under special circumstances the Met-allele renders cognitive processes more efficient than the Val/Val genotype in healthy elderly, corroborating recent findings in young subjects.
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors at Technical University of Dortmund (IfADo), Dortmund, Germany. gajewski@ifado.de
authors.forename: Patrick D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Gajewski
authors.forename: Jan G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Hengstler
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Golka
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Falkenstein
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Beste
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000483:Alleles; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000235:genetics*; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008715:Methionine / Q000235:genetics; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000235:genetics; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000235:genetics*; D014633:Valine / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D008715:Methionine; D014633:Valine