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The effect of the COMT val158met polymorphism on neural correlates of semantic verbal fluency

European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience volume 259, pages 459–465 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Variation in the val158met polymorphism of the COMT gene has been found to be associated with cognitive performance. In functional neuroimaging studies, this dysfunction has been linked to signal changes in prefrontal areas. Given the complex modulation and functional heterogeneity of frontal lobe systems, further specification of COMT gene-related phenotypes differing in prefrontally mediated cognitive performance are of major interest. Eighty healthy individuals (54 men, 26 women; mean age 23.3 years) performed an overt semantic verbal fluency task while brain activation was measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). COMT val158met genotype was determined and correlated with brain activation measured with fMRI during the task. Although there were no differences in performance, brain activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus [Brodmann area 10] was positively correlated with the number of val alleles in the COMT gene. COMT val158met status modulates brain activation during the language production on a semantic level in an area related to executive functions.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Brain Imaging Centre West, 01GO0204). SK and AJ are supported by The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (01GW0751).

Conflict of interest statement

All authors report no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University Marburg, Rudolf-Bultmann-Str. 8, 35039, Marburg, Germany

    Axel Krug, Sören Krach, Andreas Jansen & Tilo Kircher

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstr. 30, 52074, Aachen, Germany

    Valentin Markov & Abigail Sheldrick

  3. Institute of Human Genetics, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstr. 30, 52074, Aachen, Germany

    Klaus Zerres & Thomas Eggermann

  4. Institute of Neuroscience and Biophysics 3, Medicine, Research Center Jülich, Jülich, Germany

    Tony Stöcker & N. Jon Shah

  5. Central Service Facility “Functional Imaging” at the ICCR-BIOMAT, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstr. 30, 52074, Aachen, Germany

    N. Jon Shah

  6. Institute of Physics, University of Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany

    N. Jon Shah

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  1. Axel Krug
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  2. Valentin Markov
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Correspondence to Axel Krug.

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Krug, A., Markov, V., Sheldrick, A. et al. The effect of the COMT val158met polymorphism on neural correlates of semantic verbal fluency. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 259, 459–465 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-009-0010-8

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