title: COMT Val158Met polymorphism influences the susceptibility to framing in decision-making: OFC-amygdala functional connectivity as a mediator.
abstract: Individuals tend to avoid risk in a gain frame, in which options are presented in a positive way, but seek risk in a loss frame, in which the same options are presented negatively. Previous studies suggest that emotional responses play a critical role in this "framing effect." Given that the Met allele of COMT Val158Met polymorphism (rs4680) is associated with the negativity bias during emotional processing, this study investigated whether this polymorphism is associated with individual susceptibility to framing and which brain areas mediate this gene-behavior association. Participants were genotyped, scanned in resting state, and completed a monetary gambling task with options (sure vs risky) presented as potential gains or losses. The Met allele carriers showed a greater framing effect than the Val/Val homozygotes as the former gambled more than the latter in the loss frame. Moreover, the gene-behavior association was mediated by resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) between orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and bilateral amygdala. Met allele carriers showed decreased RSFC, thereby demonstrating higher susceptibility to framing than Val allele carriers. These findings demonstrate the involvement of COMT Val158Met polymorphism in the framing effect in decision-making and suggest RSFC between OFC and amygdala as a neural mediator underlying this gene-behavior association. Hum Brain Mapp 37:1880-1892, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: Center for Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Department of Psychology, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoxue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Center for Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Department of Psychology, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.|Institute of Population and Health, College of Life Science, Northwest University, Shanxi, 710069, China.
authors.forename: Pingyuan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.affiliation: Center for Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Department of Psychology, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.|China Center for Special Economic Zone Research, Shenzhen University, Guangdong, 518060, China.|Research Centre for Brain Function and Psychological Science, Shenzhen University, Guangdong, 518060, China.
authors.forename: Jinting
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Center for Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Department of Psychology, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Center for Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Department of Psychology, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Center for Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Department of Psychology, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
authors.forename: Hongbo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Embedded System and Service Computing (Ministry of Education), Tongji University, Shanghai, 201804, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoliang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Embedded System and Service Computing (Ministry of Education), Tongji University, Shanghai, 201804, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Embedded System and Service Computing (Ministry of Education), Tongji University, Shanghai, 201804, China.
authors.forename: Changjun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Center for Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Department of Psychology, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.|Key Laboratory of Machine Perception (Ministry of Education), Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.|Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.|PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
authors.forename: Xiaolin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000679:Amygdala / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology*; D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase / Q000235:genetics*; D008192:Deception; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005717:Games, Experimental; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008715:Methionine / Q000235:genetics; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics*; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D014633:Valine / Q000235:genetics; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D008715:Methionine; C588010:COMT protein, human; D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase; D014633:Valine
keywords: COMT; Val158Met; amygdala; framing effect; functional connectivity; orbitofrontal cortex; rs4680