Fossella John, Posner Michael I, Fan Jin, Swanson James M, Pfaff Donald W
Sackler Institute for Developmental Psychobiology, Department of Psychiatry, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, 1300 York Avenue, New York, NY, 10021, USA.
ScientificWorldJournal. 2002 Jan 24;2:217-23. doi: 10.1100/tsw.2002.93.
We outline a strategy to relate normal cognitive processes to candidate genes. First, brain imaging is used to specify a cognitive process "attention" in terms of the neural networks involved. Next, evidence is presented showing that the operation of each network involves a dominant neuromodulator. Then we discuss development of a task designed to measure the efficiency of each network in normal individuals and consider evidence on the independence, reliability, and heritability of the networks. DNA from cheek swabs of subjects who performed the task are then used to examine candidate polymorphisms in genes related to the transmitters. We then examine the ability of these candidate alleles to predict the efficiency of relevant networks. This process has demonstrated that candidate genes are related to specific networks of attention to a greater degree than to overall performance as measured by reaction time and accuracy. These findings require replication and possible extension to other cognitive processes.
我们概述了一种将正常认知过程与候选基因联系起来的策略。首先，利用脑成像根据所涉及的神经网络来明确一种认知过程——“注意力”。接下来，给出的证据表明每个网络的运作都涉及一种主要的神经调节物质。然后我们讨论一项旨在测量正常个体中每个网络效率的任务的开发，并考虑有关这些网络的独立性、可靠性和遗传性的证据。接着，从完成该任务的受试者脸颊拭子中提取的DNA被用于检测与递质相关基因中的候选多态性。然后我们检验这些候选等位基因预测相关网络效率的能力。这一过程表明，与通过反应时间和准确性衡量的整体表现相比，候选基因与特定的注意力网络的关联程度更高。这些发现需要重复验证，并可能扩展到其他认知过程。
