MAOA-L carriers are better at making optimal financial decisions under risk

Abstract

Genes can affect behaviour towards risks through at least two distinct neurocomputational mechanisms: they may affect the value assigned to different risky options, or they may affect the way in which the brain adjudicates between options based on their value. We combined methods from neuroeconomics and behavioural genetics to investigate the impact that the genes encoding for monoamine oxidase-A (MAOA), the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) and the dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) have on these two computations. Consistent with previous literature, we found that carriers of the MAOA-L polymorphism were more likely to take financial risks. Our computational choice model, rooted in established decision theory, showed that MAOA-L carriers exhibited such behaviour because they are able to make better financial decisions under risk, and not because they are more impulsive. In contrast, we found no behavioural or computational differences among the 5-HTT and DRD4 polymorphisms.

Ambiguity aversion and familiarity bias: Evidence from behavioral and gene association studies

“…We find the serotonin transporter polymorphism to be associated with familiarity bias but not ambiguity aversion, while the dopamine D5 receptor gene and estrogen receptor beta gene are both associated with ambiguity aversion only among female subjects. Our finding adds to recent findings of decision making under risk (Crisan et al 2009;Dreber et al 2009;Kuhnen and Chiao 2009;Roe et al 2009;Zhong et al 2009b, c;Frydman et al 2011;Carpenter et al 2011;Dreber et al 2011) and contributes to a deeper understanding of decision making under uncertainty.…”

“…Two recent twin studies, involving a Chinese and a Swedish population, suggest that genes may contribute significantly to economic risk taking (Cesarini et al 2009;Zhong et al 2009a). At the same time, findings of association between economic risk taking and well-characterized functional genes have been reported in Carpenter et al (2011), Crisan et al (2009), Dreber et al (2009), Dreber et al (2011), Frydman et al (2011, Kuhnen and Chiao (2009), Roe et al (2009), and Zhong et al (2009b. However the neurogenetic basis of ambiguity aversion and familiarity bias remains unexplored.…”

Neuropsychological Correlates of Transcription Factor AP-2Beta, and Its Interaction with COMT and MAOA in Healthy Females

“…Furthermore, it has previously been described to affect intelligence, aggression, risk taking, antisocial behavior, and treatment response [26,27,28,29]. In our sample, there were no significant effects on the cognitive performance parameters; however, we found a trend-like relationship.…”

Variants of the Monoamine Oxidase A gene (MAOA) predict free-riding behavior in women in a strategic public goods experiment.

“…Second, we need to be aware that the replication of candidate gene studies might be difficult due to the polygenetic architecture of those traits and the small effects of individual genes on that given trait (discussed in Benjamin et al, 2012). Third, subjects with similar preferences might still make quite different choices, depending on the behavioral specificity of their defined phenotype (Frydman, 2011). Thus, using simple but accurate preference elicitation procedures, which eliminate difficulties resulting from complex decision environments such as repeated play or strategic interaction, may allow for an improved interpretation of previous results.…”