True but not false memories are associated with the HTR2A gene.
Previous research reported that serotonin receptor 2A gene (HTR2A) polymorphisms were associated with memory. However, it is unknown whether these genetic variants were associated with both true and false memories. The current study of 336 Han Chinese subjects tested 30 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the HTR2A gene for potential associations with true and false memories. False memories were assessed using the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm, in which people falsely remember semantically related (but unpresented) words. We found that 11 SNPs within the HTR2A gene were associated with true memory (p=0.000076-0.043). The associations between true memory and seven adjacent SNPs (i.e., rs1923888, rs1745837, rs9567739, rs3742279, rs655888, rs655854, and rs2296972) were still significant after multiple testing corrections. Haplotype-based association analysis revealed that, true memory was positively associated with haplotype A-C-C-G-C-T-A for these seven adjacent SNPs (p=0.000075), which was still significant after multiple testing correction. Only one SNP rs655854 was associated with false memory (p=0.023), and it was not significant after multiple testing correction. This study replicates, in an Asian population, that genetic variation in HTR2A is associated with episodic memory, and also suggests that this association is restricted to true memory.
State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
Bi
B
Zhu
Chuansheng
C
Chen
Elizabeth F
EF
Loftus
Robert K
RK
Moyzis
Qi
Q
Dong
Chongde
C
Lin
D000293:Adolescent; D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D044402:Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2A / Q000235:genetics*; D012094:Repression, Psychology; D055815:Young Adult
D044402:Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2A
ApoE; BDNF; CTNNBL1; DRM; Deese–Roediger–McDermott, HTR2A, serotonin receptor 2A; False memory; HWE; Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium; LD; MAF; PET; SCN1A; SNP; Serotonin 2A receptor gene; True memory; apolipoprotein E; brain-derived neurotrophic factor; catenin, beta like 1; linkage disequilibrium; minor allele frequencies; positron emission tomography; single nucleotide polymorphism; sodium channel, voltage-gated, type I, alpha subunit