TY - JOUR
T1 - Effect of the catechol-O-methyltransferase val158met genotype on children's early phases of facial stimuli processing
AU - Battaglia, M.
AU - Zanoni, A.
AU - Giorda, R.
AU - Pozzoli, U.
AU - Citterio, A.
AU - Beri, S.
AU - Ogliari, A.
AU - Nobile, M.
AU - Marino, C.
AU - Molteni, M.
PY - 2007/6
Y1 - 2007/6
N2 - The ability to process and identify human faces matures early in life, is universal and is mediated by a distributed neural system. The temporal dynamics of this cognitive-emotional task can be studied by cerebral visual event-related potentials (ERPs) that are stable from midchildhood onwards. We hypothesized that part of individual variability in the parameters of the N170, a waveform that specifically marks the early, precategorical phases of human face processing, could be associated with genetic variation at the functional polymorphism of the catechol-O-methyltransferase (val158met) gene, which influences information processing, cognitive control tasks and patterns of brain activation during passive processing of human facial stimuli. Forty-nine third and fourth graders underwent a task of implicit processing of other children's facial expressions of emotions while ERPs were recorded. The N170 parameters (latency and amplitude) were insensitive to the type of expression, stimulus repetition, gender or school grade. Although limited by the absence of met- homozygotes among boys, data showed shorter N170 latency associated with the presence of 1-2 met158 alleles, and family-based association tests (as implemented in the pbat version 2.6 software package) confirmed the association. These data were independent of the serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism and the N400 waveform investigated in the same group of children in a previous study. Some electrophysiological features of face processing may be stable from midchildhood onwards. Different waveforms generated by face processing may have at least partially independent genetic architectures and yield different implications toward the understanding of individual differences in cognition and emotions.
AB - The ability to process and identify human faces matures early in life, is universal and is mediated by a distributed neural system. The temporal dynamics of this cognitive-emotional task can be studied by cerebral visual event-related potentials (ERPs) that are stable from midchildhood onwards. We hypothesized that part of individual variability in the parameters of the N170, a waveform that specifically marks the early, precategorical phases of human face processing, could be associated with genetic variation at the functional polymorphism of the catechol-O-methyltransferase (val158met) gene, which influences information processing, cognitive control tasks and patterns of brain activation during passive processing of human facial stimuli. Forty-nine third and fourth graders underwent a task of implicit processing of other children's facial expressions of emotions while ERPs were recorded. The N170 parameters (latency and amplitude) were insensitive to the type of expression, stimulus repetition, gender or school grade. Although limited by the absence of met- homozygotes among boys, data showed shorter N170 latency associated with the presence of 1-2 met158 alleles, and family-based association tests (as implemented in the pbat version 2.6 software package) confirmed the association. These data were independent of the serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism and the N400 waveform investigated in the same group of children in a previous study. Some electrophysiological features of face processing may be stable from midchildhood onwards. Different waveforms generated by face processing may have at least partially independent genetic architectures and yield different implications toward the understanding of individual differences in cognition and emotions.
KW - Catechol-O-methyltransferase
KW - Children
KW - Development
KW - ERP
KW - Face expressions of emotion
KW - Genetics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=34249034620&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=34249034620&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/j.1601-183X.2006.00265.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1601-183X.2006.00265.x
M3 - Article
C2 - 16939639
AN - SCOPUS:34249034620
VL - 6
SP - 364
EP - 374
JO - Genes, Brain and Behavior
JF - Genes, Brain and Behavior
SN - 1601-1848
IS - 4
ER -