Journal
COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE
Volume 6, Issue 1, Pages 31-43Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.3758/CABN.6.1.31
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- NIA NIH HHS [AG19653] Funding Source: Medline
Ask authors/readers for more resources
In the present study, we investigated age-related changes in interactions between efficiency of neuronal repair mechanisms and efficiency of cholinergic neurotransmission in the context of attentional orienting. In addition, we explored white matter volume changes as possible neuronal underpinnings. A sample of 230 healthy middle-aged (53-454 years) and older (65-75 years) adults was genotyped for polymorphisms of APOE and CHRNA4, a nicotinic receptor subunit gene. Participants were administered a visuospatial attention task involving letter discrimination with location cues of varying validity. Genotype effects on white matter volume were also investigated in a subset of participants who received MRI scans. APOE interacted with CHRNA4, such that APOE-epsilon 4 carriers who were also CHRNA4 77 homozygotes showed disproportionately slowed reaction time (RT) following invalid location cues. The interaction was stronger in the middle-aged participants than in the older participants. There was also a trend for individuals with combined APOE-epsilon 4/CHRNA4 TT genotypes to show both lower white matter volume and slower overall RT on the attention task. The interaction of a neurotransmission gene (CHRNA4) and a susceptibility gene (APOE) suggests that the efficiency of neuronal repair mechanisms may modulate the cholinergic system to influence attentional function.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available