Leiden University, Postbus 9555, 2300 RB Leiden, the Netherlands.
J Cogn Neurosci. 2011 Nov;23(11):3576-85. doi: 10.1162/jocn_a_00049. Epub 2011 May 12.
The attentional blink (AB)--a deficit in reporting the second of two target stimuli presented in close succession in a rapid sequence of distracters--has been related to processing limitations in working memory. Given that dopamine (DA) plays a crucial role working memory, the present study tested whether individual differences in the size of the AB can be predicted by differences in genetic predisposition related to the efficiency of dopaminergic pathways. Polymorphisms related to mesocortical and nigrostriatal dopaminergic pathways were considered, as well as polymorphisms related to norepinephrine (NE), a transmitter system that has also been suspected to play a role in the AB. In a sample of 157 healthy adults, we studied the dependency of the individual magnitude of the AB and the C957T polymorphism at the DRD2 gene (associated with striatal DA/D2 receptors), the DARPP32 polymorphism (associated with striatal DA/D1), the COMT Val(158)Met polymorphism (associated with frontal DA), DBH444 g/a and DBH5'-ins/del polymorphisms (polymorphisms strongly correlated with DA beta hydroxylase, the enzyme catalyzing the DA-NE conversion) and NET T-182C (a polymorphism related to the NE transporter). DRD2 C957T T/T homozygotes showed a significantly smaller AB, whereas polymorphisms associated with frontal DA and NE were unrelated to performance. This outcome pattern suggests a crucial role of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic pathway and of nigrostriatal D2 receptors, in particular, in the management of attentional resources.
注意瞬脱（AB）——在快速呈现的分心刺激序列中，两个目标刺激紧密连续呈现时，报告第二个目标刺激的能力下降——与工作记忆中的处理限制有关。鉴于多巴胺（DA）在工作记忆中起着至关重要的作用，本研究测试了个体 AB 大小的差异是否可以通过与多巴胺能途径效率相关的遗传倾向差异来预测。考虑了与中皮质和黑质纹状体多巴胺能途径相关的多态性，以及与去甲肾上腺素（NE）相关的多态性，去甲肾上腺素是一种被怀疑在 AB 中发挥作用的递质系统。在 157 名健康成年人的样本中，我们研究了 AB 的个体幅度和 DRD2 基因的 C957T 多态性（与纹状体 DA/D2 受体相关）、DARPP32 多态性（与纹状体 DA/D1 相关）、COMT Val(158)Met 多态性（与额叶 DA 相关）、DBH444 g/a 和 DBH5'-ins/del 多态性（与多巴胺-β羟化酶强烈相关的多态性，多巴胺-β羟化酶是催化 DA-NE 转化的酶）和 NET T-182C（与 NE 转运体相关的多态性）对个体幅度的依赖性。DRD2 C957T T/T 纯合子的 AB 明显较小，而与额叶 DA 和 NE 相关的多态性与表现无关。这种结果模式表明，黑质纹状体多巴胺能途径和黑质纹状体 D2 受体，特别是在注意力资源管理中起着至关重要的作用。
