Sheese Brad E, Voelker Pascale, Posner Michael I, Rothbart Mary K
Department of Psychology, Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, IN 61701, USA.
Cogn Neuropsychiatry. 2009;14(4-5):332-55. doi: 10.1080/13546800902844064.
Individual differences in temperament and attention provide an important link between normal and pathological development. Previous studies suggest that during infancy, orienting of attention is associated with higher levels of positive affect and lower levels of negative affect. For older children and adults, self-regulation, as measured by ratings of effortful control, is consistently associated with lower levels of negative affect such as sadness and distress.
In the current paper we use a longitudinal study of children at ages 6-7 months (Time 1) and 18-20 months (Time 2) to examine how variations in candidate genes relate to emotional and self-regulatory aspects of temperament.
In accord with previous findings, parent ratings of orienting were positively related to positive affect only during infancy. Genetic variation in COMT was related to positive affect at Time l but not Time 2. Negative affect at both Time 1 and Time 2 was related to genetic variation in SNAP25. Genetic variation in CHRNA4 was related to Effortful Control at Time 2.
These findings lend support to the early modulation of emotion by aspects of orienting (Time 1) and executive attention (Time 2), and indicate that emotional reactivity and its regulation are modulated by different genes.
气质和注意力方面的个体差异为正常发育与病理发育之间提供了重要联系。先前的研究表明，在婴儿期，注意力定向与较高水平的积极情绪及较低水平的消极情绪相关。对于年龄较大的儿童和成年人，通过努力控制评分来衡量的自我调节与悲伤和痛苦等较低水平的消极情绪始终相关。
在本文中，我们对6 - 7个月大（时间1）和18 - 20个月大（时间2）的儿童进行了一项纵向研究，以检验候选基因的变异如何与气质的情绪和自我调节方面相关。
与先前的研究结果一致，只有在婴儿期，父母对注意力定向的评分才与积极情绪呈正相关。儿茶酚-O-甲基转移酶（COMT）的基因变异在时间1与积极情绪相关，但在时间2则不然。时间1和时间2的消极情绪均与突触小体相关蛋白25（SNAP-25）基因变异有关。α4烟碱型乙酰胆碱受体（CHRNA4）基因变异在时间2与努力控制相关。
这些发现支持了注意力定向（时间1）和执行性注意力（时间2）对情绪的早期调节作用，并表明情绪反应及其调节由不同基因调控。
