title: The NTSR1 gene modulates the association between hippocampal structure and working memory performance.
abstract: The genetic and neural basis of working memory (WM) has been extensively studied. Many dopamine (DA) related genes, including the NTSR1 gene (a DA modulator gene), have been reported to be associated with WM performance. The NTSR1 protein is predominantly expressed in the cerebral cortex and the hippocampus, the latter of which is closely involved in WM processing based on both lesion and fMRI studies. Thus far, however, no study has examined the joint effects of NTSR1 gene polymorphism and hippocampal morphology on WM performance. Participants of the current study were 330 healthy Chinese college students. WM performance was measured with a 2-back WM paradigm. Structural MRI data were acquired and then analyzed using an automated procedure with atlas-based FreeSurfer segmentation software (v 4.5.0) package. Linear regression analyses were conducted with a NTSR1 C/T polymorphism which was previously reported to be associated with WM (rs4334545), hippocampal volume, and their interaction as predictors of WM performance, with gender and intracranial volume (ICV) as covariates. Results showed a significant interaction between NTSR1 genotype and hippocampal volume (p<.05 for both the left and right hippocampi). Further analysis showed that the correlation between hippocampal volume and WM scores was significant for carriers of the NTSR1 T-allele (p<.05 for both hippocampi), but not for CC homozygotes. These results indicate that the association between hippocampal structure and WM performance was modulated by variation in the NTSR1 gene, and suggest that further studies of brain-behavior associations should take genetic background information into account.
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, PR China.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Social Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA. Electronic address: cschen@uci.edu.
authors.forename: Chuansheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, PR China; Department of Psychology and Social Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA.
authors.forename: Xuemei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, PR China.
authors.forename: Yunxin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, PR China.
authors.forename: Chunhui
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA.
authors.forename: Qinghua
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Chemistry and Institute of Genomics and Bioinformatics, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA.
authors.forename: Robert K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Moyzis
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, PR China; Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA.
authors.forename: Gui
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, PR China.
authors.forename: Bi
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, PR China.
authors.forename: Zhongyu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, PR China. Electronic address: dongqi@bnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Dong
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D018028:Receptors, Neurotensin / Q000235:genetics*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D018028:Receptors, Neurotensin; C114036:neurotensin type 1 receptor