title: Self-Reported Sexual Behavioral Interests and Polymorphisms in the Dopamine Receptor D4 (DRD4) Exon III VNTR in Heterosexual Young Adults.
abstract: Polymorphisms in the dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) have previously been shown to associate with a variety of human behavioral phenotypes, including ADHD pathology, alcohol and tobacco craving, financial risk-taking in males, and broader personality traits such as novelty seeking. Recent research has linked the presence of a 7-repeat (7R) allele in a 48-bp variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) along exon III of DRD4 to age at first sexual intercourse, sexual desire, arousal and function, and infidelity and promiscuity. We hypothesized that carriers of longer DRD4 alleles may report interest in a wider variety of sexual behaviors and experiences than noncarriers. Participants completed a 37-item questionnaire measuring sexual interests as well as Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory, and were genotyped for the 48-bp VNTR on exon III of DRD4. Based on our final genotyped sample of female (n = 139) and male (n = 115) participants, we found that 7R carriers reported interest in a wider variety of sexual behaviors (r = 0.16) within a young adult heterosexual sample of European descent. To our knowledge, this is the first reported association between DRD4 exon III VNTR genotype and interest in a variety of sexual behaviors. We discuss these findings within the context of DRD4 research and broader trends in human evolutionary history.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Halley
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boretsky
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, 218 Carpenter Building, University Park, PA, 16802, USA. dap27@psu.edu.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Puts
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, 218 Carpenter Building, University Park, PA, 16802, USA.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shriver
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000483:Alleles; D001143:Arousal / Q000235:genetics*; D005091:Exons; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018598:Minisatellite Repeats; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D050638:Receptors, Dopamine D4 / Q000235:genetics*; D057566:Self Report; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D013694:Temperament
chemical_list: C493599:DRD4 protein, human; D050638:Receptors, Dopamine D4
keywords: DRD4; Dopamine; Exon III VNTR; Neuroscience; Sexuality