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. 2010 Sep 16:6:54.
doi: 10.1186/1744-9081-6-54.

The effects of a DTNBP1 gene variant on attention networks: an fMRI study

Markus Thimm  1 , Axel Krug, Thilo Kellermann, Valentin Markov, Sören Krach, Andreas Jansen, Klaus Zerres, Thomas Eggermann, Tony Stöcker, N Jon Shah, Markus M Nöthen, Marcella Rietschel, Tilo Kircher
Affiliations

The effects of a DTNBP1 gene variant on attention networks: an fMRI study

Markus Thimm et al. Behav Brain Funct. .

Abstract

Background: Attention deficits belong to the main cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia and come along with altered neural activity in previously described cerebral networks. Given the high heritability of schizophrenia the question arises if impaired function of these networks is modulated by susceptibility genes and detectable in healthy risk allele carriers.

Methods: The present event-related fMRI study investigated the effect of the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs1018381 of the DTNBP1 (dystrobrevin-binding protein 1) gene on brain activity in 80 subjects while performing the attention network test (ANT). In this reaction time task three domains of attention are probed simultaneously: alerting, orienting and executive control of attention.

Results: Risk allele carriers showed impaired performance in the executive control condition associated with reduced neural activity in the left superior frontal gyrus [Brodmann area (BA) 9]. Risk allele carriers did not show alterations in the alerting and orienting networks.

Conclusions: BA 9 is a key region of schizophrenia pathology and belongs to a network that has been shown previously to be involved in impaired executive control mechanisms in schizophrenia. Our results identified the impact of DTNBP1 on the development of a specific attention deficit via modulation of a left prefrontal network.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Stimulus material and example for the course of one trial (right spatial cue/incongruent target)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effect of genotype on attentional effects
Figure 3
Figure 3
Decreased neural activity during executive control of attention risk group (inc > con) con); bar graph shows mean betas of the GLM (arbitrary units)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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