title: Adolescent behavioral and neural reward sensitivity: a test of the differential susceptibility theory.
abstract: Little is known about the causes of individual differences in reward sensitivity. We investigated gene-environment interactions (GxE) on behavioral and neural measures of reward sensitivity, in light of the differential susceptibility theory. This theory states that individuals carrying plasticity gene variants will be more disadvantaged in negative, but more advantaged in positive environments. Reward responses were assessed during a monetary incentive delay task in 178 participants with and 265 without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), from N=261 families. We examined interactions between variants in candidate plasticity genes (DAT1, 5-HTT and DRD4) and social environments (maternal expressed emotion and peer affiliation). HTTLPR short allele carriers showed the least reward speeding when exposed to high positive peer affiliation, but the most when faced with low positive peer affiliation or low maternal warmth. DAT1 10-repeat homozygotes displayed similar GxE patterns toward maternal warmth on general task performance. At the neural level, DRD4 7-repeat carriers showed the least striatal activation during reward anticipation when exposed to high maternal warmth, but the most when exposed to low warmth. Findings were independent of ADHD severity. Our results partially confirm the differential susceptibility theory and indicate the importance of positive social environments in reward sensitivity and general task performance for persons with specific genotypes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.|Karakter Child and Adolescent Psychiatry University Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Richards
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Genetics, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.|Department of Psychiatry, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arias Vásquez
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: von Rhein
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: D
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0466-386X
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: van der Meer
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Genetics, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.|Department of Psychiatry, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Franke
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Hoekstra
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neuropsychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Heslenfeld
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neuropsychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Oosterlaan
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychiatry and of Neuroscience and Physiology, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA.
authors.forename: S V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Faraone
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.|Karakter Child and Adolescent Psychiatry University Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Buitelaar
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Hartman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D056915:DNA Copy Number Variations; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D059907:Functional Neuroimaging; D005787:Gene Frequency; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006720:Homozygote; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D017072:Neostriatum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000235:genetics; D010379:Peer Group; D050638:Receptors, Dopamine D4 / Q000235:genetics*; D012201:Reward; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: C493599:DRD4 protein, human; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; C493214:SLC6A3 protein, human; C493230:SLC6A4 protein, human; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D050638:Receptors, Dopamine D4