title: Dissociable contribution of prefrontal and striatal dopaminergic genes to learning in economic games.
abstract: Game theory describes strategic interactions where success of players' actions depends on those of coplayers. In humans, substantial progress has been made at the neural level in characterizing the dopaminergic and frontostriatal mechanisms mediating such behavior. Here we combined computational modeling of strategic learning with a pathway approach to characterize association of strategic behavior with variations in the dopamine pathway. Specifically, using gene-set analysis, we systematically examined contribution of different dopamine genes to variation in a multistrategy competitive game captured by (i) the degree players anticipate and respond to actions of others (belief learning) and (ii) the speed with which such adaptations take place (learning rate). We found that variation in genes that primarily regulate prefrontal dopamine clearance--catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) and two isoforms of monoamine oxidase--modulated degree of belief learning across individuals. In contrast, we did not find significant association for other genes in the dopamine pathway. Furthermore, variation in genes that primarily regulate striatal dopamine function--dopamine transporter and D2 receptors--was significantly associated with the learning rate. We found that this was also the case with COMT, but not for other dopaminergic genes. Together, these findings highlight dissociable roles of frontostriatal systems in strategic learning and support the notion that genetic variation, organized along specific pathways, forms an important source of variation in complex phenotypes such as strategic behavior.
authors: Haas School of Business and Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720;Department of Economics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801;
authors: Eric
authors: E
authors: Set
authors: Haas School of Business and Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720;
authors: Ignacio
authors: I
authors: Saez
authors: Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, Roanoke, VA 24016;
authors: Lusha
authors: L
authors: Zhu
authors: Department of Economics and Interdisciplinary Center for Economics Science, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030;
authors: Daniel E
authors: DE
authors: Houser
authors: Graduate School of Business & Public Policy, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA 93943; and.
authors: Noah
authors: N
authors: Myung
authors: Economics, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117570.
authors: Songfa
authors: S
authors: Zhong
authors: Departments of Psychology and rpebstein@gmail.com ecscsh@nus.edu.sg mhsu@haas.berkeley.edu.
authors: Richard P
authors: RP
authors: Ebstein
authors: Economics, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117570 rpebstein@gmail.com ecscsh@nus.edu.sg mhsu@haas.berkeley.edu.
authors: Soo Hong
authors: SH
authors: Chew
authors: Haas School of Business and Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720; rpebstein@gmail.com ecscsh@nus.edu.sg mhsu@haas.berkeley.edu.
authors: Ming
authors: M
authors: Hsu
mesh_terms: D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase / Q000235:genetics; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000378:metabolism*; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000235:genetics*; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D004467:Economics; D005260:Female; D005716:Game Theory; D005717:Games, Experimental; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008995:Monoamine Oxidase / Q000235:genetics; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000378:metabolism*; D050638:Receptors, Dopamine D4 / Q000235:genetics; D012846:Singapore; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; C493599:DRD4 protein, human; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D050638:Receptors, Dopamine D4; D008995:Monoamine Oxidase; D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase; D004298:Dopamine
keywords: eigenSNPs; experience-weighted attraction; neuroeconomics