Yeh Ting-Kuang, Chang Chun-Yen, Hu Chung-Yi, Yeh Ting-Chi, Lin Ming-Yeh
Science Education Center and Graduate Institute of Science Education, National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan, ROC.
Brain Cogn. 2009 Dec;71(3):300-5. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2009.07.011. Epub 2009 Aug 22.
Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is a methylation enzyme that catalyzes the degradation pathway and inactivation of dopamine. It is accepted widely as being involved in the modulation of dopaminergic physiology and prefrontal cortex (PFC) function. The COMT Val158Met polymorphism is associated with variation in COMT activity. COMT 158Met allele may be advantageous for PFC-related cognitive abilities; however, it is also associated with increased anxiety, depression, and emotional vulnerability in response to stress or educational adversity. We hypothesized that the COMT polymorphism might be associated with academic performance. In this study, 779 Taiwanese tenth-grade volunteers were recruited. Scores from the Basic Competency Test (BCT), an annual national competitive entrance examination, were used to evaluate academic performance. The results indicated that students bearing homozygous for the Met allele tended to perform more poorly in all BCT subtests as compared to the other groups. In particular, the former performed significantly more poorly in the science and social science subtests. These findings provide evidence that affective factors might overwhelm cognitive abilities in high-stake tests like the BCT.
儿茶酚-O-甲基转移酶（COMT）是一种甲基化酶，它催化多巴胺的降解途径并使其失活。它被广泛认为参与多巴胺能生理和前额叶皮质（PFC）功能的调节。COMT Val158Met多态性与COMT活性的变化有关。COMT 158Met等位基因可能对与PFC相关的认知能力有利；然而，它也与对应激或教育逆境时焦虑、抑郁和情绪易感性增加有关。我们假设COMT多态性可能与学业成绩有关。在这项研究中，招募了779名台湾十年级志愿者。使用基本能力测试（BCT）的分数来评估学业成绩，该测试是一项年度全国竞争性入学考试。结果表明，与其他组相比，携带Met等位基因纯合子的学生在所有BCT子测试中的表现往往更差。特别是，前者在科学和社会科学子测试中的表现明显更差。这些发现提供了证据，表明在像BCT这样的高风险测试中，情感因素可能会压倒认知能力。
