Mione Valentina, Canterini Sonia, Brunamonti Emiliano, Pani Pierpaolo, Donno Federica, Fiorenza Maria Teresa, Ferraina Stefano
Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University Rome, Italy.
Department of Psychology, Section of Neuroscience, Sapienza University Rome, Italy ; "Daniel Bovet" Neurobiology Research Center, Sapienza University Rome, Italy.
Front Behav Neurosci. 2015 May 19;9:127. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00127. eCollection 2015.
Reactive and proactive controls of actions are cognitive abilities that allow one to deal with a continuously changing environment by adjusting already programmed actions. They also set forthcoming actions by evaluating the outcome of the previous ones. Earlier studies highlighted sex-related differences in the strategies and in the pattern of brain activation during cognitive tasks involving reactive and proactive control. To further identify sex-dependent characteristics in the cognitive control of actions, in this study, we have assessed whether/how differences in performance are modulated by the COMT Val158Met single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), a genetic factor known to influence the functionality of the dopaminergic system-in particular, at the level of the prefrontal cortex. Two groups of male and female participants were sorted according to their genotype (Val/Val, Val/Met, and Met/Met) and tested in a stop signal task, a consolidated tool for measuring executive control in experimental and clinical settings. In each group of participants, we estimated both a measure of the capacity to react to unexpected events and the ability to monitor their performance. The between-group comparison of these measures indicated a poorer ability of male individuals and Val/Val subjects in error-monitoring. These observations suggest that sex differences in inhibitory control could be influenced by the efficiency of COMT and that other sex-specific factors have to be considered. Understanding the inter-group variability of behavioral and physiological correlates of cognitive control could provide more accurate diagnostic tools for predicting the incidence and/or the development of pathologies, like ADHD, or deviant behaviors, such as drug or alcohol abuse.
动作的反应性和主动性控制是认知能力，使人们能够通过调整已编程的动作来应对不断变化的环境。它们还通过评估先前动作的结果来设定即将进行的动作。早期研究强调了在涉及反应性和主动性控制的认知任务中，策略和大脑激活模式存在性别差异。为了进一步确定动作认知控制中的性别依赖性特征，在本研究中，我们评估了性能差异是否/如何受到儿茶酚-O-甲基转移酶（COMT）Val158Met单核苷酸多态性（SNP）的调节，这是一种已知会影响多巴胺能系统功能的遗传因素，特别是在前额叶皮质水平。两组男性和女性参与者根据其基因型（Val/Val、Val/Met和Met/Met）进行分类，并在停止信号任务中进行测试，该任务是在实验和临床环境中测量执行控制的成熟工具。在每组参与者中，我们既估计了对意外事件做出反应的能力指标，也估计了监测其表现的能力。这些指标的组间比较表明，男性个体和Val/Val受试者在错误监测方面能力较差。这些观察结果表明，抑制控制中的性别差异可能受COMT效率的影响，并且还必须考虑其他性别特异性因素。了解认知控制的行为和生理相关性的组间变异性，可以为预测多动症等疾病的发病率和/或发展，或药物或酒精滥用等异常行为提供更准确的诊断工具。
