Catechol-o-methyl transferase (COMT) val158met polymorphism and adolescent cortical development in patients with childhood-onset schizophrenia, their non-psychotic siblings, and healthy controls.

ABSTRACT: Non-psychotic individuals at increased risk for schizophrenia show alterations in fronto-striatal dopamine signaling and cortical gray matter maturation reminiscent of those seen in schizophrenia. It remains unclear however if variations in dopamine signaling influence rates of structural cortical maturation in typically developing individuals, and whether such influences are disrupted in patients with schizophrenia and their non-psychotic siblings. We sought to address these issues by relating a functional Val→Met polymorphism within the gene encoding catechol-o-methyltransferase (COMT)-a key enzymatic regulator of cortical dopamine levels-to longitudinal structural neuroimaging measures of cortical gray matter thickness. We included a total of 792 magnetic resonance imaging brain scans,

SUBMITTER: Raznahan A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3285479 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature