A comparison of genetic variants between proficient low- and high-risk sport participants.
Athletes participating in high-risk sports consistently report higher scores on sensation-seeking measures than do low-risk athletes or non-athletic controls. To determine whether genetic variants commonly associated with sensation seeking were over-represented in such athletes, proficient practitioners of high-risk (n = 141) and low-risk sports (n = 132) were compared for scores on sensation seeking and then genotyped at 33 polymorphic loci in 14 candidate genes. As expected, athletes participating in high-risk sports score higher on sensation seeking than did low-risk sport athletes (P < .01). Genotypes were associated with high-risk sport participation for two genes (stathmin, (P = .004) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (P = .03)) as well as when demographically matched subsets of the sport cohorts were compared (P < .05); however, in all cases, associations did not survive correction for multiple testing.
a School of Kinesiology , University of British Columbia , Vancouver , Canada.
Cynthia J
CJ
Thomson
Rebecca J
RJ
Power
Scott R
SR
Carlson
Jim L
JL
Rupert
Grégory
G
Michel
D000328:Adult; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D012309:Risk-Taking; D013177:Sports / Q000502:physiology*; D050777:Stathmin / Q000235:genetics
D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D050777:Stathmin; C579455:BDNF protein, human
BDNF; genetics; reward; risk-taking sport; sensation seeking; stathmin