The NTSR1 gene modulates the association between hippocampal structure and working memory performance

Abstract

The genetic and neural basis of working memory (WM) has been extensively studied. Many dopamine (DA) related genes, including the NTSR1 gene (a DA modulator gene), have been reported to be associated with WM performance. The NTSR1 protein is predominantly expressed in the cerebral cortex and the hippocampus, the latter of which is closely involved in WM processing based on both lesion and fMRI studies. Thus far, however, no study has examined the joint effects of NTSR1 gene polymorphism and hippocampal morphology on WM performance. Participants of the current study were 330 healthy Chinese college students. WM performance was measured with a 2-back WM paradigm. Structural MRI data were acquired and then analyzed using an automated procedure with atlas-based FreeSurfer segmentation software (v 4.5.0) package. Linear regression analyses were conducted with a NTSR1 C/T polymorphism which was previously reported to be associated with WM (rs4334545), hippocampal volume, and their interaction as predictors of WM performance, with gender and intracranial volume (ICV) as covariates. Results showed a significant interaction between NTSR1 genotype and hippocampal volume (p b .05 for both the left and right hippocampi). Further analysis showed that the correlation between hippocampal volume and WM scores was significant for carriers of the NTSR1 T-allele (p b .05 for both hippocampi), but not for CC homozygotes. These results indicate that the association between hippocampal structure and WM performance was modulated by variation in the NTSR1 gene, and suggest that further studies of brain-behavior associations should take genetic background information into account.

Developmental trajectories for attention and working memory in healthy Japanese school-aged children

“…These results indicate that WM gradually develops with age, consistent with the findings from previous studies [3]. Because episodic memory is dependent on the hippocampus [36] and the existence of a dopamine-related gene associated with WM (NTSR1 gene) it is thought that the hippocampus is related to WM [37]. Based on these results which showed that 12-year-olds had higher accuracy rates than all the other groups in one-card-learning, and the fact that previous research has shown that WM increases until adolescence, we deduced that episodic memory and WM increase in accordance with the maturation of the hippocampus.…”

Ethanol-related alterations in gene expression patterns in the developing murine hippocampus

“…ErbB3 is a member of the epidermal growth factor receptor family of receptor tyrosine kinases and is involved in neural crest differentiation and the development of the sympathetic nervous system and neural crest derivatives such as Schwann cells [45]. The Ntsr1 receptor belongs to the large superfamily of G-protein-coupled receptors and is reported to modulate the association between hippocampal structure and working memory performance [46]. Itpr1 is a calcium channel which is responsible for Ca 2+ mobilization from intracellular sores in the endoplasmic reticulum [47].…”

Convergent lines of evidence support CAMKK2 as a schizophrenia susceptibility gene

“…Cognitive and behavioral measures included working memory, executive functions (assessed with the Attention Network Test, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task, and a reversal learning test), IQ, personality and motivation traits (for example, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation) and so on. Detailed information on cognitive and behavioral data acquisition, genotyping and statistical analysis can be found in the previous studies 47,48 and Supplementary Data and Supplementary Table S1.…”