title: The BDNF Val66Met Polymorphism Influences Reading Ability and Patterns of Neural Activation in Children.
abstract: Understanding how genes impact the brain's functional activation for learning and cognition during development remains limited. We asked whether a common genetic variant in the BDNF gene (the Val66Met polymorphism) modulates neural activation in the young brain during a critical period for the emergence and maturation of the neural circuitry for reading. In animal models, the bdnf variation has been shown to be associated with the structure and function of the developing brain and in humans it has been associated with multiple aspects of cognition, particularly memory, which are relevant for the development of skilled reading. Yet, little is known about the impact of the Val66Met polymorphism on functional brain activation in development, either in animal models or in humans. Here, we examined whether the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism (dbSNP rs6265) is associated with children's (age 6-10) neural activation patterns during a reading task (n = 81) using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), genotyping, and standardized behavioral assessments of cognitive and reading development. Children homozygous for the Val allele at the SNP rs6265 of the BDNF gene outperformed Met allele carriers on reading comprehension and phonological memory, tasks that have a strong memory component. Consistent with these behavioral findings, Met allele carriers showed greater activation in reading-related brain regions including the fusiform gyrus, the left inferior frontal gyrus and left superior temporal gyrus as well as greater activation in the hippocampus during a word and pseudoword reading task. Increased engagement of memory and spoken language regions for Met allele carriers relative to Val/Val homozygotes during reading suggests that Met carriers have to exert greater effort required to retrieve phonological codes.
authors.affiliation: Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, CT, United States of America.
authors.forename: Kaja K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Jasińska
authors.affiliation: Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, CT, United States of America.|University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, United States of America.
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Molfese
authors.affiliation: Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, CT, United States of America.|University of Houston, Houston, TX, United States of America.|Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States of America.|Moscow State University, Moscow, Russian Federation.|Saint-Petersburg State University, Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Sergey A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Kornilov
authors.affiliation: Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, CT, United States of America.|Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States of America.
authors.forename: W Einar
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Mencl
authors.affiliation: Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, CT, United States of America.
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Frost
authors.affiliation: Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States of America.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, CT, United States of America.|University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, United States of America.|Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States of America.
authors.forename: Kenneth R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Pugh
authors.affiliation: Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, CT, United States of America.|Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States of America.|University of Houston, Houston, TX, United States of America.|Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States of America.|Saint-Petersburg State University, Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation.|Moscow City University for Psychology and Education, Moscow, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Elena L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Grigorenko
authors.affiliation: Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, CT, United States of America.|University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, United States of America.|Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States of America.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Landi
mesh_terms: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000235:genetics*; D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology*; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005838:Genotype; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics; D011932:Reading
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; C579455:BDNF protein, human