Association of a nicotinic receptor gene polymorphism with spontaneous eyeblink rates.
Spontaneous eyeblink rates greatly vary among individuals from several blinks to a few dozen blinks per minute. Because dopamine agonists immediately increase the blink rate, individual differences in blink rate are used as a behavioral index of central dopamine functioning. However, an association of the blink rate with polymorphisms in dopamine-related genes has yet not been found. In this study, we demonstrated that a genetic variation of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor CHRNA4 (rs1044396) increased the blink rate while watching a video. A receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed that the blink rate predicts a genetic variation in the nicotinic receptor gene with a significant discrimination level (0.66, p < 0.004). The present study suggests that differences in sensitivity to acetylcholine because of the genetic variation of the nicotinic receptor are associated with individual differences in spontaneous eye blink rate.
Graduate School of Frontiers Biosciences, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.
Tamami
T
Nakano
Graduate School of Frontiers Biosciences, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.
Chiho
C
Kuriyama
1] Graduate School of Education, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan [2] Japan Society for the Promotion of Sciences, Tokyo, Japan.
Toshiyuki
T
Himichi
Graduate School of Education, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
Michio
M
Nomura
D000328:Adult; D000483:Alleles; D001767:Blinking / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency / Q000235:genetics; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics*; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic / Q000235:genetics*; D055815:Young Adult
D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic