Cognitive abilities and the rate of their extinction with age are shown to be determined to a significant extent by genetic factors. The serotoninergic system of the brain affects the development and plastic rearrangements of the brain, and plays an important role in learning and memory processes. Links found between the activity of the serotonin transporter gene and the efficiency of memory processes provided grounds for studying associations between the efficiency of memory and the STin2VNTR polymorphism, which results from a change in the number of tandem repeats in intron 2, which has two frequent alleles (10 and 12 repeats) and one rare (nine repeats) allele. This polymorphism fulfils the role of an allele-dependent amplifier of gene expression. The studies involved younger (n = 204: 84 men and 120 women, age 19–35 years) and older (n = 129: 57 men and 72 women, age over 55 years) right-handed subjects. The efficiency of verbal memory was determined in terms of reproduction of words heard with the right and left ears in a dichotic test procedure and in terms of a measure of the recognition, among distractors, of syllables previously displayed on a screen; imaginal memory efficiency was tested in terms of shape recognition. Regardless of other factors, carriers of the 12/12 genotype of the STin2VNTR polymorphism, as compared with carriers of the 10 allele, demonstrated significantly better memorization of dichotically presented words and imaginal memory. For imaginal memory, the genotype effect was more marked in the older age group.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andreano, J. M. and Cahill L., “Sex influences on the neurobiology of learning and memory,” Learn. Mem., 16, No. 4, 248–266 (2009).
Avula, R., Rand, A., Black, J. L., and O’Kane, D. J., “Simultaneous genotyping of multiple polymorphisms in human serotonin transporter gene and detection of novel allelic variants,” Transl. Psychiatry, 1, e32 (2011).
Bah, J., Lindstrom, M., Westberg, L., et al., “Serotonin transporter gene polymorphisms: effect on serotonin transporter availability in the brain of suicide attempters,” Psychiatry Res., 162, No. 3, 221–229 (2008).
Belsky, J. and Pluess M., “Beyond diathesis stress: Differential susceptibility to environmental influences,” Psychol. Bull., 135, 885–908 (2009).
Borg, J., Henningsson, S., Saijo, T., et al., “Serotonin transporter genotype is associated with cognitive performance but not regional 5-HT1A receptor binding in humans,” Int. J. Neuropsychopharmacol., 12, No. 6, 783–792 (2009).
Dömötör, E., Sárosi, A., Balogh, G., et al., “Association of neurocognitive endophenotype and STin2 polymorphism in major depressive disorder,” Neuropsychopharmacol. Hung., No. 2, 53–62 (2007).
Fan, J. B. and Sklar P., “Meta-analysis reveals association between serotonin transporter gene STin2 VNTR polymorphism and schizophrenia,” Mol. Psychiatry, 10, No. 10, 928–938 (2005).
Fiskerstrand, C. E., Lovejoy, E. A., and Quinn, J. P., “An intronic polymorphic domain often associated with susceptibility to affective disorders has allele dependent differential enhancer activity in embryonic stem cells,” FEBS Lett., 458, No. 2, 171–174 (1999).
Homberg, J. R., Molteni, R., Calabrese, F., and Riva, M. A., “The serotonin BDNF duo: developmental implications for the vulnerability to psychopathology,” Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev., 43, 35–47 (2014).
Hranilovic, D., Stefulj, J., Schwab, S., et al., “Serotonin transporter promoter and intron 2 polymorphisms: relationship between allelic variants and gene expression,” Biol. Psychiatry, 55, No. 11, 1090–1094 (2004).
Kakiuchi, T., Tsukada, H., Fukumoto, D., and Nishiyama S., “Effects of aging on serotonin transporter availability and its response to fluvoxamine in the living brain: PET study with [(11)C](+)McN5652 and [(11)C](-)McN5652 in conscious monkeys,” Synapse, 40, No. 3, 170–179 (2001).
Madsen, K., Errizoe, D., Mortensen, E. L., et al., “Cognitive function is related to frontostriatal serotonin transporter levels – A brain PET study in young healthy subjects,” Psychopharmacology, 213, No. 2–3, 573–581 (2011).
Melke, J., Landén, M., Baghei, F., et al., “Serotonin transporter gene polymorphisms are associated with anxiety-related personality traits in women,” Am. J. Med. Genet., 105, No. 5, 458–463 (2001).
Meneses, A., “5-HT system and cognition,” Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev., 23, No. 8, 1111–1125 (1999).
Miller, S. A., Dykes, D. D., and Polesky, H. F., “A simple salting out procedure for extracting DNA from human nucleated cells,” Nucleic Acids Res., 16, No. 3, 1215 (1988).
Park, D. C. and Festini, S. B., “Theories of memory and aging: A look at the past and a glimpse of the future,” J. Gerontol B Psychol. Sci. Soc. Sci., 72, No. 1, 82–90 (2017).
Payton, A., Gibbons, L., Davidson, Y., et al., “Influence of serotonin transporter gene polymorphisms on cognitive decline and cognitive abilities in a nondemented elderly population,” Mol. Psychiatry, 10, No. 12, 1133–1139 (2005).
Puchkova, A. N. and Dorokhov, V. B., “Molecular genetic studies of individual differences and occupational activity,” Zh. Vyssh. Nerv. Deyat., 65, No. 2, 188–202 (2015).
Roiser, J., Muller, U., Clark, L., and Sahakian, B. J., “The effects of acute tryptophan depletion and serotonin transporter polymorphism on emotional processing in memory and attention,” Int. J. Neuropsychopharmacol., 10, No. 4, 449–461 (2007).
Sarosi, A., Gonda, X., Balogh, G., et al., “Association of the STin2 polymorphism of the serotonin transporter gene with a neurocognitive endophenotype in major depressive disorder,” Prog. Neuropsychopharmacol. Biol. Psychiatr, 32, No. 7, 1667–1672 (2008).
Sodhi, M. S. and Sanders-Bush E., “Serotonin and brain development,” Int. Rev. Neurobiol., 59, 111–174 (2004).
van Kesteren, R. E. and Spencer, G. E., “The role of neurotransmitters in neurite outgrowth and synapse formation,” Rev. Neurosci., 14, No. 3, 217–231 (2003).
Volf, N. V., Bazovkina, D. V., and Kulikov, A. V., “The 5-HTTLPR polymorphism of the serotonin transporter gene and the intellectual environment of occupational activity as factors associated with memory changes on aging,” Zh. Vyssh. Nerv. Deyat., 67, No. 6, 744–754 (2017).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Translated from Zhurnal Vysshei Nervnoi Deyatel’nosti imeni I. P. Pavlova, Vol. 69, No. 5, pp. 570–576, September–October, 2019.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Volf, N.V., Privodnova, E.Y. & Bazovkina, D.V. The STin2VNTR Polymorphism of the Serotonin Transporter Protein: Association with the Efficiency of Short-Term Memory in Young and Elderly Subjects. Neurosci Behav Physi 50, 695–699 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-020-00957-4
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-020-00957-4