Association between the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met polymorphism and manual aiming control in healthy subjects.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Prefrontal dopamine is catabolized by the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) enzyme. Current evidence suggests that the val/met single nucleotide polymorphism in the COMT gene can predict the efficiency of executive cognition in humans. Individuals carrying the val allele perform more poorly because less synaptic dopamine is available.

Methodology/principal findings

We investigated the influence of the COMT polymorphism on motor performance in a task that requires different executive functions. We administered a manual aiming motor task that was performed under four different conditions of execution by 111 healthy participants. Participants were grouped according to genotype (met/met, met/val, val/val), and the motor performance among groups was compared. Overall

SUBMITTER: Lage GM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4067272 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature