title: AVPR1A variant associated with preschoolers' lower altruistic behavior.
abstract: The genetic origins of altruism, defined here as a costly act aimed to benefit non-kin individuals, have not been examined in young children. However, previous findings concerning adults pointed at the arginine vasopressin receptor 1A (AVPR1A) gene as a possible candidate. AVPR1A has been associated with a range of behaviors including aggressive, affiliative and altruistic phenotypes, and recently a specific allele (327 bp) of one of its promoter region polymorphisms (RS3) has been singled out in particular. We modeled altruistic behavior in preschoolers using a laboratory-based economic paradigm, a modified dictator game (DG), and tested for association between DG allocations and the RS3 "target allele." Using both population and family-based analyses we show a significant link between lower allocations and the RS3 "target allele," associating it, for the first time, with a lower proclivity toward altruistic behavior in children. This finding helps further the understanding of the intricate mechanisms underlying early altruistic behavior.
authors: Department of Neurobiology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors: Reut
authors: R
authors: Avinun
authors: Salomon
authors: S
authors: Israel
authors: Idan
authors: I
authors: Shalev
authors: Inga
authors: I
authors: Gritsenko
authors: Gary
authors: G
authors: Bornstein
authors: Richard P
authors: RP
authors: Ebstein
authors: Ariel
authors: A
authors: Knafo
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000533:Altruism; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017483:Receptors, Vasopressin / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D017483:Receptors, Vasopressin