title: The impact of Val108/158Met polymorphism of catechol-O-methyltransferase on brain oscillations during working memory.
abstract: This study investigated whether catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val/Met polymorphism was associated with variation in event-related desynchronization/synchronization (ERD/ERS) of responses during working memory (WM). 11 Val/Val and 11 Met/Met homozygous participants underwent magnetoencephalography (MEG) while performing a WM task. In contrast to small effects behaviourally, during the delay period Val/Val individuals showed lower ERS in the gamma band (Hz 30-50) in frontal regions, increased ERS in the alpha band (Hz 8-12) in the right frontal and parietal regions and increased ERD in the beta band (Hz 14-30) in the left fronto-temporal regions as compared with Met/Met homozygous individuals. During the response period Val/Val participants showed greater beta ERD in the prefrontal and parietotemporal regions. These results demonstrate that COMT genotype has a strong impact on brain responses (oscillatory activity) during WM performance likely a consequence of compensatory activity during the delay and response periods.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Brain Disorders Branch, NIMH, Bldg. 10, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA; Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Psychiatry Unit, University of Foggia, Italy. Electronic address: m_altamura@virgilio.it.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Altamura
authors.affiliation: Clinical Brain Disorders Branch, NIMH, Bldg. 10, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
authors.forename: Brita
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Elvevåg
authors.affiliation: Clinical Brain Disorders Branch, NIMH, Bldg. 10, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
authors.forename: Terry E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Goldberg
authors.affiliation: MEG Core Facility, National Institutes of Health, Bldg. 10, Bethesda, MD 20982, USA.
authors.forename: Frederick W
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Carver
authors.affiliation: Clinical Brain Disorders Branch, NIMH, Bldg. 10, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA; Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Neurology, Neuroscience, and Institute of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Weinberger
authors.affiliation: Clinical Brain Disorders Branch, NIMH, Bldg. 10, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA; MEG Core Facility, National Institutes of Health, Bldg. 10, Bethesda, MD 20982, USA.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Coppola
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000201:enzymology / Q000502:physiology*; D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015225:Magnetoencephalography; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase
keywords: Dopamine; Event-related desynchronization (ERD); Event-related synchronization (ERS); Frontal lobe; Genetics; Human memory