Facial Affect Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

2025, Psychiatry Research

Studies of individuals at ultra high risk (UHR) for psychosis have revealed deviations in cognitive and neural development before the onset of psychosis. As affective impairments are among the core dysfunctions in psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia, this study assessed emotion processing and the relationship with social competence in adolescents at risk for psychosis. Thirty-four adolescents at UHR for psychosis and twenty-three non-clinical controls completed the Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire, a measure of emotion awareness. Social inadequacy was measured using the Dutch Personality Questionnaire. Schizophrenia spectrum psychopathology was assessed using self-report and clinical instruments. The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) was used to evaluate intellectual functioning. UHR adolescents showed difficulties in identifying and verbalizing their own emotions, independent of intelligence scores. Emotion awareness problems were related to social inadequacy and schizotypal traits in the high risk group. These findings suggest that UHR adolescents may have reduced emotion awareness, independent of intellectual functioning. The relationship with social inadequate behavior fits with the idea that emotion awareness is a prerequisite for the regulation of emotions in social contexts. In the search for early vulnerability markers of risk for psychosis, studying emotion processing besides cognitive abilities might increase our understanding of 'at risk' developmental pathways.

2024

ackground: The majority of affective psychopathology is rooted early in life and first emerges during childhood and adolescence. owever, little is known about how genetic vulnerability affects brain structure and function in childhood since the vast majority of studies ublished so far have been conducted on adult participants. The present investigation examined for the first time the effects of catechol-methyltransferase (COMT) valine (val) 158 methionine (met) (val158met) polymorphism, which has been shown to moderate predispoition to negative mood and affective disorders, on brain structure and function in children.

2024

Hay dos posturas sobre cuales son las emociones basicas. La clasica plantea que las mismas son asco, tristeza, alegria, enojo, miedo y sorpresa; y la postura actual concluye que las emociones basicas son tristeza, alegria y la combinacion de miedo/sorpresa por un lado y enojo/asco por otro. El objetivo sera estudiar las fallas en el reconocimiento de asco, enojo, miedo y sorpresa, y la relacion en el tipo de error producido en una muestra de sujetos sanos. Se evaluaron 18 sujetos con la bateria de Reconocimiento Facial de Emociones Basicas considerando las respuestas correctas y las elecciones incorrectas. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que hay diferencias significativas entre los pares “miedo correcta-miedo por sorpresa”, ”sorpresa correcta-sorpresa por miedo”, ”enojo correcta-enojo por asco” y “asco correcta-asco por enojo”. Estos hallazgos apoyan la postura clasica sobre la existencia de las seis emociones basicas.

2024, Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience

Background: Maternal care (MC) and dopamine modulate brain activity during emotion processing in inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), striatum and amygdala. Reuptake of dopamine from the synapse is performed by the dopamine transporter (DAT), whose abundance is predicted by variation in its gene (DAT 3 0 VNTR; 10 > 9-repeat alleles). Here, we investigated the interaction between perceived MC and DAT 3 0 VNTR genotype on brain activity during processing of aversive facial emotional stimuli. Methods: Sixty-one healthy subjects were genotyped for DAT 3 0 VNTR and categorized in low and high MC individuals. They underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a task requiring gender discrimination of facial stimuli with angry, fearful or neutral expressions. Results: An interaction between facial expression, DAT genotype and MC was found in left IFG, such that low MC and homozygosity for the 10-repeat allele are associated with greater activity during processing of fearful faces. This greater activity was also inversely correlated with a measure of emotion control as scored with the Big Five Questionnaire. Moreover, MC and DAT genotype described a double dissociation on functional connectivity between IFG and amygdala. Conclusion: These findings suggest that perceived early parental bonding may interact with DAT 3 0 VNTR genotype in modulating brain activity during emotionally relevant inputs.

2024, Journal of Pain and Symptom Management

Context. As a multidimensional phenomenon, pain is influenced by various psychological factors. One such factor is catastrophizing, which is associated with higher pain intensity and emotional distress in cancer and noncancer pain. One possibility is that catastrophizing represents a general cognitive style that preferentially supports the processing of negative affective stimuli. Such preferential processing of threatdtoward negative facial expressions, for exampledis seen in emotional disorders and is sensitive to pharmacological treatment. Whether pharmacological (analgesic) treatment might also influence the processing of threat in pain patients is currently unclear. Objectives. This study investigates the effects catastrophizing on processing of facial affect in those receiving an acute opioid dose. Methods. In a double-blind crossover design, the performance of 20 palliative care patients after their usual dose of immediate-release opioid was compared with their performance following matched-placebo administration on a facial affect recognition (i.e., speed and accuracy) and threat-pain estimation task (i.e., ratings of pain intensity). The influence of catastrophizing was examined by splitting the sample according to their score on the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS). Results. Opioid administration had no effect on facial affect processing compared with placebo. However, the main finding was that enhanced processing of fear, sadness, and disgust was found only in patients who scored highly on the PCS. There was no difference in performance between the two PCS groups on the other emotions (i.e., happiness, surprise, and anger).

2023, European Psychiatry

The gene encoding catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), an enzyme which regulates prefrontal cortex dopamine, contains a common functional single nucleotide polymorphism (val158met, rs4680 G/A), which accounts for part of the interindividual variance in performance during working memory tasks and also predicts personality traits.We examined the relationship between the val158met polymorphism and cognitive function as well as personality traits in 522 healthy individuals (mean age: 24.75 years, SD = 5.84, mean years of education: 15.59, SD = 2.65).COMT val158met genotype was related in allele dosage fashion to performance in an executive function test, with the met/met carriers scoring highest. Subjects carrying the met/met genotype also scored higher in the disorganization domain of the SPQ-B personality inventory.Consistent with evidence from previous studies, higher dopamine availability of the met/met genotype enhances prefrontally mediated executive function in healthy individual...

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2023, Anuario de Investigaciones

RESUMEN Hay dos posturas sobre cuáles son las emociones básicas. La clásica plantea que las mismas son asco, tristeza, alegría, enojo, miedo y sorpresa; y la postura actual concluye que las emociones básicas son tristeza, alegría y la combinación de miedo/sorpresa por un lado y enojo/asco por otro. El objetivo será estudiar las fallas en el reconocimiento de asco, enojo, miedo y sorpresa, y la relación en el tipo de error producido en una muestra de sujetos mayores sanos. Se evaluaron 18 sujetos con la batería de Reconocimiento Facial de Emociones Básicas considerando las respuestas correctas y las elecciones incorrectas. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que hay diferencias significativas entre los pares "miedo correcta-miedo por sorpresa"," sorpresa correcta-sorpresa por miedo", "enojo correcta-enojo por asco" y "asco correcta-asco por enojo". Estos hallazgos apoyan la postura clásica sobre la existencia de las seis emociones básicas.

2023, Schizophrenia Bulletin

ObjectiveTo investigate the association between facial affect recognition (FAR) and type of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in a sample of clinical high risk (CHR) individuals and a matched sample of healthy controls (HCs).MethodsIn total, 309 CHR individuals and 51 HC were recruited as part of an European Union-funded multicenter study (EU-GEI) and included in this work. During a 2-year follow-up period, 65 CHR participants made a transition to psychosis (CHR-T) and 279 did not (CHR-NT). FAR ability was measured using a computerized version of the Degraded Facial Affect Recognition (DFAR) task. ACEs were measured using the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Questionnaire, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, and the Bullying Questionnaire. Generalized regression models were used to investigate the relationship between ACE and FAR. Logistic regressions were used to investigate the relationship between FAR and psychotic transition.ResultsIn CHR individuals, having experienced...

2023, European Psychiatry

Background:Investigating genetic modulation of emotion processing may contribute to the understanding of heritable mechanisms of emotional disorders. The aim of the present study was to test the effects of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) val158met and serotonin-transporter-linked promoter region (5-HTTLPR) polymorphisms on facial emotion processing in healthy individuals.Methods:Two hundred and seventy five (167 female) participants were asked to complete a computerized facial affect recognition task, which involved four experimental conditions, each containing one type of emotional face (fearful, angry, sad or happy) intermixed with neutral faces. Participants were asked to indicate whether the face displayed an emotion or was neutral. The COMT-val158met and 5-HTTLPR polymorphisms were genotyped.Results:Met homozygotes (COMT) showed a stronger bias to perceive neutral faces as expressions of anger, compared with val homozygotes. However, the S-homozygotes (5-HTTLPR) showed a re...

2023, Psychiatry Research

2023, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

Depression is a common and disabling psychiatric disorder with a complex etiology, which includes predisposing risk genes and environmental stressors. Variation in the Catechol-O-Methyltransferase (COMT) gene, the Val158Met polymorphism in particular, has been extensively investigated in relation to clinical phenotypes of depression and, in parallel, neurocognitive processes. In this review, we bridge evidence from neuroimaging, behavioral and clinical studies that have examined the role of COMT variants on depression-relevant phenotypes. We observed that clinical phenotypes such as depression severity and diagnosis, or behavioral endophenotypes, are less reliably associated with COMT genetic variation. On the other hand, genetic effects are more discernible on brain systems of emotional processing. Specifically, the Met allele is associated with increased activity in limbic areas and prefrontal cortex, but is also more likely to have a better response to antidepressant treatment, compared to the Val allele. Gender and stress are important modulators of COMT genetic effects. On the basis of current evidence, we propose a tentative pathway through which the COMT gene may influence cognitive vulnerability to depression.

2023, European Psychiatry

The COMT Val158Met polymorphism has been associated with anxiety and affective disorders, but its effect on anxiety-related personality traits varies between studies. Our purpose was to investigate the effect of COMT Val158Met on personality traits from adolescence to young adulthood in a population representative Caucasian birth cohort. Also its association with educational attainment and anxiety and mood disorders by the age 25 were examined. This analysis is based on the older cohort of the Estonian Children Personality Behavior and Health Study (original number of subjects 593). The personality traits were assessed when the participants were 15, 18 and 25 years old. COMT Val158Met had an effect on Neuroticism in females by age 25 (p = 0.001, Bonferroni-corrected for five traits), whereas female Val homozygotes scored the highest. In addition, the Conscientiousness scores of subjects with Val/Val genotype were decreasing in time, being the lowest by the age 25 (p = 0.006, Bonferr...

2023, Journal of Pain and Symptom Management

2023, Acta de Investigación Psicológica

El reconocimiento facial de la expresión emocional es la capacidad de todos los individuos de reconocer formas básicas de expresión afectiva, la cual aparece en los rostros de las personas. Investigaciones previas sugieren que existen diferencias en el reconocimiento facial de la expresión emocional entre carreras universitarias, sin embargo, hay pocos estudios en México, y es por ello que el objetivo del presente estudio fue determinar estas diferencias en estudiantes universitarios. Se utilizaron 70 imágenes del Facial Expressions of Emotion-Stimuli and Test. Para determinar las diferencias por carrera se llevó a cabo un análisis de varianza simple con pruebas post hoc de Tukey, obteniendo diferencias estadísticamente significativas en el reconocimiento facial de la tristeza, el asco y el enojo.

2023, Schizophrenia Research

Individuals with schizophrenia demonstrate stable deficits in affect recognition. Similar deficits in affect recognition have been observed in those who are at clinical high risk (CHR) of developing psychosis. The current project aimed to longitudinally examine affect processing in CHR individuals, to determine if affect processing predicted later conversion to psychosis and if affect processing deficits were unique to those who met established criteria for prodromal syndromes. The sample consisted of 172 CHR and 100 help-seeking individuals (HS) who were followed for up to 24 months. All CHR individuals met the Criteria of Prodromal Syndromes (COPS) based on the Structured Interview for Prodromal Symptoms (SIPS). The SIPS was used to determine conversion to psychosis. Affect recognition was assessed using two facial affect recognition tasks and a measure of affective prosody. In comparison to previously published data from non-psychiatric controls, both CHR and HS groups demonstrated deficits in affect recognition. By 2 years 25 CHR participants converted to psychosis. Interestingly, there were no differences between converters and non-converters on any affect recognition tasks. This is one of the first studies to longitudinally examine affect processing and its relationship to later conversion to psychosis in individuals at-risk for psychosis. While poorer affect recognition may be associated with vulnerability for psychosis, the current results suggest that it may not be a marker of developing a psychotic illness.

2023, American Journal of Psychiatry

In the prefrontal cortex, the enzyme catechol O-methyltransferase (COMT) is critical in the metabolic degradation of dopamine, a neurotransmitter hypothesized to influence human cognitive function. The COMT gene contains a functional polymorphism, Val158Met, that exerts a fourfold effect on enzyme activity. The current study investigated whether prefrontal cognition varies with COMT genotype. Method: Val158Met was genotyped in 73 healthy volunteers. A task of prefrontal cognition, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, was also administered. Results: Subjects with only the low-activity met allele made significantly fewer perseverative errors on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test than did subjects with the val allele. Conclusions: These data are consistent with those of previous studies, suggesting that a functional genetic polymorphism may influence prefrontal cognition.

2023, Schizophrenia Research

2023, Psychological Medicine

BackgroundCatechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met has been associated with activity of the mesial temporal lobe during episodic memory and it may weakly increase risk for schizophrenia. However, how this variant affects parahippocampal and hippocampal physiology when dopamine transmission is perturbed is unclear. The aim of the present study was to compare the effects of the COMT Val158Met genotype on parahippocampal and hippocampal physiology during encoding of recognition memory in patients with schizophrenia and in healthy subjects.MethodUsing blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we studied 28 patients with schizophrenia and 33 healthy subjects matched for a series of sociodemographic and genetic variables while they performed a recognition memory task.ResultsWe found that healthy subjects had greater parahippocampal and hippocampal activity during memory encoding compared to patients with schizophrenia. We also found different a...

2023, Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience

2023, European Psychiatry

2022, Clinical Neurophysiology

authors (Fishmen et al.) the FAIR-test is positive with a latency difference higher than 1.86 ms. Method: Thirty-eight patients with the clinical suspect of a piriform muscle-syndrome were examined. The test if performed in belly position, using the same experimental setting as known from the H-reflex, the leg is on time inclined and other time stretched. Results: None of the examined patients met the criteria of a positive FAIR-test with a H-reflex latency lengthening higher than 1.86 ms. 5% of the patients showed an amplitude decrease of more than 50%, 10% of the patients showed less than 50% decrease. Another 15% revealed no amplitude changes at all. Due to low amplitude or missing H-answer 55% of the patients were not FAIR-tested. Conclusion: Our data suggested that latency differences in FAIR-test are not suitable in detecting a piriform musclesyndrome.

2022, European Neuropsychopharmacology

Neuroimaging studies have consistently shown functional brain abnormalities in patients with Bipolar Disorder (BD) and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). However, the extent to which these two disorders are associated with similar or distinct neural changes remains unclear. We conducted a systematic review of functional magnetic resonance imaging studies comparing BD and MDD patients to healthy participants using facial affect processing paradigms. Relevant spatial coordinates from twenty original studies were subjected to quantitative Activation Likelihood Estimation meta-analyses based on 168 BD and 189 MDD patients and 344 healthy

2022, Psychiatry Research

2022, PLoS ONE

Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) plays an essential role in degradation of extracellular dopamine in prefrontal regions of the brain. Although a polymorphism in this gene, COMT Val 158 Met, affects human behavior in response to stress little is known about its effect on dopaminergic activity associated with the human stress response, which may be of interest for stress-related psychiatric disorders such as psychosis. We aimed to investigate the effect of variations in COMT genotype on in vivo measures of stress-induced prefrontal cortex (PFC) dopaminergic processing and subjective stress responses. A combined sample of healthy controls and healthy first-degree relatives of psychosis patients (n = 26) were subjected to an [ 18 F]fallypride Positron Emission Tomography scan. Psychosocial stress during the scan was induced using the Montreal Imaging Stress Task and subjective stress was assessed every 12 minutes. Parametric t-maps, generated using the linear extension of the simplified reference region model, revealed an effect of COMT genotype on the spatial extent of [ 18 F]fallypride displacement. Detected effects of exposure to psychosocial stress were unilateral and remained restricted to the left superior and right inferior frontal gyrus, with Met-hetero-and homozygotes showing less [ 18 F]fallypride displacement than Val-homozygotes. Additionally, Met-hetero-and homozygotes experienced larger subjective stress responses than Val-homozygotes. The direction of the effects remained the same when the data was analyzed separately for controls and first-degree relatives. The human stress response may be mediated in part by COMT-dependent dopaminergic PFC activity, providing speculation for the neurobiology underlying COMT-dependent differences in human behaviour following stress. Implications of these results for stress-related psychopathology and models of dopaminergic functioning are discussed.

2022, Anales Científicos

Esta investigación se propuso determinar en qué medida se relacionan la capacidad de codificación y decodificación facial de emociones y el rendimiento académico en jóvenes universitarios de ingeniería. Para ello, se tomó una muestra probabilística y se midió la capacidad de codificar y decodificar las emociones. Los puntajes obtenidos se relacionaron con los promedios ponderados obtenidos. Lo que se encontró es que la capacidad de codificación y decodificación facial de emociones y el rendimiento académico tienen una correlación poco significativa, negativa o positiva, en jóvenes universitarios de ingeniería. El tipo de relación depende de otra variable "información y práctica sobre comunicación no verbal". Palabras claves: emoción, codificación de emociones, decodificación de emociones, inteligencia no verbal.

2022, Depression and Anxiety

Background-Investigations of gene-environment interaction (G × E) in depression have implicated a polymorphism in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) as a moderator of the stress-depression relationship. However, recent evidence for 5-HTTLPR G × E in depression has been inconsistent. The present study examined the moderating effect of the val158met polymorphism in the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene on the strength of 5-HTTLPR G × E. Methods-A community sample of youth (n = 384) was genotyped for 5-HTTLPR and COMT. A multi-method, multi-informant index of chronic family stress was derived from interviews and questionnaires administered at youth age 15. G × G × E was examined in relation to depression diagnoses between ages 15 and 20 and depressive symptoms at age 20. Results-Significant three-way interactions were observed for both depressive symptoms and diagnoses, such that 5-HTTLPR G × E occurred only in the context of COMT val158 allele homozygosity. For val158 homozygotes, the 5-HTTLPR L allele exerted a protective effect in the face of stress. No genetic main effect or two-way G × E was found for 5-HTTLPR. Conclusions-Inconsistent 5-HTTLPR G × E findings to date may be partly attributable to unmeasured epistatic effects between 5-HTTLPR and COMT val158met. Identifying the conditions under which 5-HTTLPR G × E is most likely to operate may allow depression prevention and treatment efforts to target youth at highest risk.

2022, Neuropsychopharmacology

The catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) val 158 met single nucleotide polymorphism (rs4680) has been shown to be associated with brain activation during a number of neurocognitive and emotional tasks. The present study evaluated genotypic associations with brain function during measurement of cognitive stability (prosaccades) and plasticity (antisaccades). A total of 36 healthy volunteers were genotyped for rs4680 and underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at 1.5 T. Individuals with at least one val 158 allele (val 158 carriers, N ¼ 24) showed lower blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response in ventromedial and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex during antisaccades compared to val 158 noncarriers, whereas met 158 homozygotes (N ¼ 12) showed lower BOLD response in a cluster in the posterior cingulate and precuneus during prosaccades compared to val 158 carriers. These findings suggest that associations of COMT val 158 met genotype with brain function may be mediated by task characteristics. The findings may be compatible with a hypothesis on the role of COMT val 158 met genotype in tonic and phasic dopamine levels in brain and differential effects on cognitive measures of stability (eg prosaccades) and plasticity (eg antisaccades).

2022, Neuroscience

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2022, Biological Psychiatry

Background: Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is essential for dopamine metabolism in the brain, and normal variation in the COMT Val158Met polymorphism can influence regional brain function during cognitive tasks. How this is affected when central dopamine function is perturbed is unclear. We addressed this by comparing the effects of COMT Val158Met genotype on cortical activation during a task of executive functions in healthy and schizophrenic subjects. Methods: We studied 90 subjects comprising 48 healthy volunteers (15 Met158/Met158, 20 Val158/Met158, and 13 Val158/Val158) and 42 patients with DSM-IV schizophrenia (13 Met158/Met158, 17 Val158/Met158, and 12 Val158/Val158). Subjects were studied with functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a verbal fluency task, with performance recorded online. Main effects of genotype and diagnosis and their interaction on cortical activation and functional connectivity were assessed using SPM5. Results: In the right peri-Sylvian cortex, the Met158 allele of the COMT Val158Met polymorphism was associated with greater activation than the Val158 allele in control subjects; the converse applied in patients (Z ϭ 4.3; false discovery rate p ϭ .04). There was also a strong trend for a group ϫ genotype interaction on functional connectivity between this right peri-Sylvian region and the left anterior insula/operculum (Z ϭ 3.4; p Ͻ .001, uncorrected). These findings were independent of between-group differences in task performance, medication, demographic factors, or IQ. Conclusions: Frontotemporal function during verbal generation is modulated by variation in COMT genotype. This effect is altered in schizophrenia, which may reflect the perturbation of central dopamine function associated with the disorder.

2022, Psychopharmacology

The pathogenetic mechanism of emotion-related disorders such as anxiety disorders is considered to be complex with an interaction of genetic, biochemical, and environmental factors. Particular evidence has accumulated for alterations in the dopaminergic system-partly conferred by catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene variation-and for distorted emotional processing to constitute risk factors for anxiety and anxiety-related disorders. Applying a multilevel approach, we analyzed the main and interactive effects of the functional COMT val158met polymorphism and L-dopa (single-dose 50 mg levodopa and 12.5 mg carbidopa; double-blind, placebo-controlled design) on the emotion-potentiated (unpleasant, neutral, and pleasant IAPS pictures) startle response as an intermediate phenotype of anxiety in a sample of 100 healthy probands (f = 52, m = 48). The COMT 158val allele was associated with an increased startle potentiation by unpleasant stimuli as compared with neutral stimuli irrespecti...

2022, Emotion

On the basis of a review of the extant literature describing emotion-cognition interactions, the authors propose 4 methodological desiderata for studying how task-irrelevant affect modulates cognition and present data from an experiment satisfying them. Consistent with accounts of the hemispheric asymmetries characterizing withdrawal-related negative affect and visuospatial working memory (WM) in prefrontal and parietal cortices, threat-induced anxiety selectively disrupted accuracy of spatial but not verbal WM performance. Furthermore, individual differences in physiological measures of anxiety statistically mediated the degree of disruption. A second experiment revealed that individuals characterized by high levels of behavioral inhibition exhibited more intense anxiety and relatively worse spatial WM performance in the absence of threat, solidifying the authors' inference that anxiety causally mediates disruption. These observations suggest a revision of extant models of how anxiety sculpts cognition and underscore the utility of the desiderata.

2022, Brain and Behavior

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

2022

Imaging genetic studies showed exaggerated blood oxygenation level-dependent response in limbic structures in carriers of low activity alleles of serotonin transporter-linked promoter region (5-HTTLPR) as well as catechol O-methyltransferase (COMT) genes. This was suggested to underlie the vulnerability to mood disorders. To better understand the mechanisms of vulnerability, it is important to investigate the genetic modulation of frontal-limbic connectivity that underlies emotional regulation and control. In this study, we have examined the interaction of 5-HTTLPR and COMT genetic markers on effective connectivity within neural circuitry for emotional facial expressions. A total of 91 healthy Caucasian adults underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments with a task presenting dynamic emotional facial expressions of fear, sadness, happiness and anger. The effective connectivity within the facial processing circuitry was assessed with Granger causality method. We have demonstrated that in fear processing condition, an interaction between 5-HTTLPR (S) and COMT (met) low activity alleles was associated with reduced reciprocal connectivity within the circuitry including bilateral fusiform/inferior occipital regions, right superior temporal gyrus/superior temporal sulcus, bilateral inferior/middle prefrontal cortex and right amygdala. We suggest that the epistatic effect of reduced effective connectivity may underlie an inefficient emotion regulation that places these individuals at greater risk for depressive disorders.

2022, European Psychiatry

2022

The catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) enzyme is responsible for degradation of catecholamines, such as dopamine (DA) and noradrenaline. The substitution of methionine (met) for valine (val) at codon 158 in the COMT gene is associated with a 40% reduction in enzyme activity and higher levels of extracelluar DA. This single nucleotide polymorphism has been most extensively studied in relation to cognitive function; several studies have linked the lowactivity met allele to enhanced performance on prefrontal cortex (PFC) tasks compared with the high-activity val allele, albeit with some inconsistencies. In addition, there is evidence suggesting COMT involvement in emotional processing. Several studies have demonstrated increased limbic–prefrontal activation in response to negative emotional stimuli in healthy met carriers. This has been taken to represent less efficient emotional processing in met, compared with val, allele carriers. Other studies have found the reverse pattern — incr...

2022, European Neuropsychopharmacology

The COMT val 158 variant has been associated with impaired cognitive function compared to the met 158 variant yet gene-gene interactions are not well described. In this study we demonstrate an interaction between this COMT polymorphism and a deletion variant of ADRA2B, the gene encoding the α2b-adrenergic receptor on episodic memory performance. Specifically, carriage of the ADRA2B deletion abolished the relative memory impairment in homozygous COMT val 158 carriers compared to met 158 carriers.

2022

Introduction. Recognition of emotion in facial expressions is the process by which facial features are perceived and analyzed for the identification of the emotional state they denote. While this skill has been extensively studied, data is inconsistent on the topic of gender differences. Objective. To characterize basic emotion recognition in children and adolescents, establishing if there are distinctive profiles based on gender. Method. A digital adaptation of the Test Pictures of Facial Affects was used on a sample consisting of 147 subjects of both sexes, between 9 and 18 years old. Results. Women presented a superior performance in the recognition of expressions of disgust and surprise and lower reaction times in the set of basic emotions, while males stood out in fear recognition. Discussion. This research refreshes the nature vs. nurture debate, considering that processes of socialization, as well as biological and phylogenetic factors, are unavoidable elements to understand ...

2022, Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience

2022, Schizophrenia Research

2022, Psychological Medicine

BackgroundAbnormalities in hippocampal–parahippocampal (H-PH) function are prominent features of schizophrenia and have been associated with deficits in episodic memory. However, it remains unclear whether these abnormalities represent a phenotype related to genetic risk for schizophrenia or whether they are related to disease state.MethodWe investigated H-PH-mediated behavior and physiology, using blood oxygenation level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD fMRI), during episodic memory in a sample of patients with schizophrenia, clinically unaffected siblings and healthy subjects.ResultsPatients with schizophrenia and unaffected siblings displayed abnormalities in episodic memory performance. During an fMRI memory encoding task, both patients and siblings demonstrated a similar pattern of reduced H-PH engagement compared with healthy subjects.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that the pathophysiological mechanism underlying the inability of patients with schizophren...

2022, Biological Psychiatry

Background: Studies in humans and in animals have demonstrated that a network of brain regions is involved in performance of declarative and recognition memory tasks. This network includes the hippocampal formation (HF) as well as the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC). Studies in animals have suggested that the relationship between these brain regions is strongly modulated by dopamine. Methods: Using fMRI in healthy humans matched for a series of demographic and genetic variables, we studied the effect of the COMT val158met polymorphism on function of HF and VLPFC as well as on their functional coupling during recognition memory. Results: The COMT Val allele was associated with: relatively poorer performance at retrieval; reduced recruitment of neuronal resources in HF and increased recruitment in VLPFC during both encoding and retrieval; and unfavorable functional coupling between these two regions at retrieval. Moreover, functional coupling during retrieval was predictive of behavioral accuracy. Conclusions: These results shed new light on individual differences in responsivity and connectivity between HF and VLPFC related to genetic modulation of dopamine, a mechanism accounting at least in part for individual differences in recognition memory performance.

2022, Psychological Medicine

BackgroundThe Met allele of the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) valine-to-methionine (Val158Met) polymorphism is known to affect dopamine-dependent affective regulation within amygdala–prefrontal cortical (PFC) networks. It is also thought to increase the risk of a number of disorders characterized by affective morbidity including bipolar disorder (BD), major depressive disorder (MDD) and anxiety disorders. The disease risk conferred is small, suggesting that this polymorphism represents a modifier locus. Therefore our aim was to investigate how the COMT Val158Met may contribute to phenotypic variation in clinical diagnosis using sad facial affect processing as a probe for its neural action.MethodWe employed functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure activation in the amygdala, ventromedial PFC (vmPFC) and ventrolateral PFC (vlPFC) during sad facial affect processing in family members with BD (n=40), MDD and anxiety disorders (n=22) or no psychiatric diagnosis (n=25) and 5...

2022, Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair

Objective. Genetic variations in the dopamine (DA) system are associated with cortical-striatal behavior in multiple populations. This study assessed associations of functional polymorphisms in the ankyrin repeat and kinase domain (ANKK1; Taq1a) and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT; Val158Met) genes with behavioral dysfunction following traumatic brain injury (TBI). Participants. This was a prospective study of 90 survivors of severe TBI recruited from a level 1 trauma center. Main measures. The Frontal Systems Behavior Scale, a self-or family report questionnaire evaluating behavior associated with frontal lobe dysfunction, was completed 6 and 12 months postinjury. Depression was measured concurrently with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Study participants were genotyped for Val158Met and Taq1a polymorphisms. Results. No statistically significant behavioral differences were observed by Taq1a or Val158Met genotype alone. At 12 months, among those with depression, Met homozygotes (Val158Met) self-reported worse behavior than Val carriers (P = .015), and A2 homozygotes (Taq1a) self-reported worse behavior than A1 carriers (P = .028) in bivariable analysis. Multivariable models suggest an interaction between depression and genetic variation with behavior at 12 months post-TBI, and descriptive analysis suggests that carriage of both risk alleles may contribute to worse behavioral performance than carriage of either risk allele alone. Conclusion. In the context of depression, Val158Met and Taq1a polymorphisms are individually associated with behavioral dysfunction 12 months following severe TBI, with preliminary evidence suggesting cumulative, or perhaps epistatic, effects of COMT and ANKK1 on behavioral dysfunction.

2022, Behavioral Neuroscience

The catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) val158met polymorphism has received attention in schizophrenia due to its role in prefrontal dopamine catabolism. Given the rich dopaminergic innervations of the olfactory bulb and the influence of dopamine on the transmission of olfactory signals, the authors examined the influence of COMT genotype status on the olfactory processing impairment observed in schizophrenia. The University of Pennsylvania Smell

2022, European Psychiatry

Additive gene-gene effects are often assumed but difficult to test in behavioral genetics due to the small explained behavioral variance. Processing of unpleasant stimuli in the amygdala has been associated with a functional polymorphism (val158-met) in the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene and independently with a functional polymorphism in the regulatory region of the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene. 5-HTT function may also be affected by a recently detected A/G exchange in the long allele (insertion) of the 5-HTT regulatory region. In individuals with more COMT met158 alleles and with more s or lG alleles of the 5-HTT regulatory region, aversive stimuli elicited greater neuronal activity in the bilateral amygdalae and hippocampi. These genotype effects were additive on amygdala and hippocampus activation by aversive versus neutral stimuli, indicating that COMT val158-met and 5-HTT genotype were additively associated with increased processing of aversive stimuli in the amygdalae. Functional brain imaging may be used to assess the interaction of multiple genotypes on neuronal activation in neuropsychiatric disorders.

2022, Journal of Neuroscience

Recent data from animal studies raise the possibility that dopaminergic neuromodulation promotes the encoding of novel stimuli. We investigated a possible role for the dopaminergic midbrain in human episodic memory by measuring how polymorphisms in dopamine clearance pathways affect encoding-related brain activity (functional magnetic resonance imaging) in an episodic memory task. In 51 young, healthy adults, successful episodic encoding was associated with activation of the substantia nigra. This midbrain activation was modulated by a functional variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) polymorphism in the dopamine transporter (DAT1) gene. Despite no differences in memory performance between genotype groups, carriers of the (low expressing) 9-repeat allele of the DAT1 VNTR showed relatively higher midbrain activation when compared with subjects homozygous for the 10-repeat allele, who express DAT1 at higher levels. The catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) Val108/158Met polymorphism, which is known to modulate enzyme activity, affected encoding-related activity in the right prefrontal cortex (PFC) and in occipital brain regions but not in the midbrain. Moreover, subjects homozygous for the (low activity) Met allele showed stronger functional coupling between the PFC and the hippocampus during encoding. Our finding that genetic variations in the dopamine clearance pathways affect encoding-related activation patterns in midbrain and PFC provides strong support for a role of dopaminergic neuromodulation in human episodic memory formation. It also supports the hypothesis of anatomically and functionally distinct roles for DAT1 and COMT in dopamine metabolism, with DAT1 modulating rapid, phasic midbrain activity and COMT being particularly involved in prefrontal dopamine clearance.

2022, The Journal of …

2022

Catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) is a key player in neurotransmission by catecholamines, and the functional COMT Val108/158Met polymorphism is strongly related to prefrontal reactivity and to dopamine levels. As dopamine is a critically important neurotransmitter in cognition, emotion and motivation, we addressed the potential impact of this genotype on life course by examining its association with being in enterprising professions. The parents (n= 1410) of the target subjects in the Estonian Children Personality Behaviour and Health Study reported their current occupation, and those classified as enterprising (n=197; 18%) were compared with the remaining group. Additionally, the subjects self-classified themselves according to the International Standard Classification of Occupations and the group of managers (6.2%) was compared to other groups. We found that the COMT Val108/158Met Val/Val homozygotes were overrepresented among enterprising occupations and the Val-allele carrier...

2022