Genetics of human memory functions in healthy cohorts

Because difficulty is not the same for everyone: the impact of complexity in working memory is associated with cannabinoid 1 receptor genetic variation in young adults

“…First, the position of the rs2180619 on a potential regulatory region (Zhang et al, 2004) might be related to the functional effect of producing differential expression of the CB1 receptor, second, the role of the endocannabinoid system as a neuromodulator of other neurotransmitter systems, via CB1 receptor activation, modulating memory processes (Busquets-Garcia et al, 2015) and third, the extended distribution of CB1 receptor in the human brain (Burns et al, 2007), including related areas participating in WM processes. Our study further supports the notion that CNR1 is one of the candidate genes, among the several genes encoding for signalling molecules (Papassotiropoulos & de Quervain, 2015) to explain the genetics of WM function. Further research is required to understand the specific role of the rs2180619 polymorphism in the expression of the CB1 receptor, if its signalling role differs among genotypes and how this SNP is distributed in human individuals, according to genotype.…”

“…Several factors, such as environmental (Colzato, van den Wildenberg, Zmigrod, & Hommel, 2013;Ruiz-Contreras et al, 2014) or genetic factors (Kondo, Nomura, & Kashino, 2015), can influence WM ability. Recently, an increasing body of evidence has revealed several genes associated with WM (for a review: Papassotiropoulos & de Quervain, 2015). In this context, given the broad distribution of the endocannabinoid system in the central nervous system (Burns et al, 2007) and its neuromodulatory role over several functions, such as memory (Rueda-Orozco, Montes-Rodriguez, Soria-Gomez, Rueda-Orozco, SoriaGomez et al, 2008b) and executive functions (Pattij, Wiskerke, & Schoffelmeer, 2008), our group is interested in knowing the participation of the endocannabinoid system in WM in healthy humans, by studying the impact of cannabinoid 1 (CB1) receptor gene variability (CNR1, located at chromosome 6q14-q15).…”