Hildebrandt A, Kiy A, Reuter M, Sommer W, Wilhelm O
Department of Psychology, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald.
Department of Psychology, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn.
Genes Brain Behav. 2016 Jun;15(5):453-64. doi: 10.1111/gbb.12295. Epub 2016 May 31.
Face cognition, including face identity and facial expression processing, is a crucial component of socio-emotional abilities, characterizing humans as highest developed social beings. However, for these trait domains molecular genetic studies investigating gene-behavior associations based on well-founded phenotype definitions are still rare. We examined the relationship between 5-HTTLPR/rs25531 polymorphisms - related to serotonin-reuptake - and the ability to perceive and recognize faces and emotional expressions in human faces. For this aim we conducted structural equation modeling on data from 230 young adults, obtained by using a comprehensive, multivariate task battery with maximal effort tasks. By additionally modeling fluid intelligence and immediate and delayed memory factors, we aimed to address the discriminant relationships of the 5-HTTLPR/rs25531 polymorphisms with socio-emotional abilities. We found a robust association between the 5-HTTLPR/rs25531 polymorphism and facial emotion perception. Carriers of two long (L) alleles outperformed carriers of one or two S alleles. Weaker associations were present for face identity perception and memory for emotional facial expressions. There was no association between the 5-HTTLPR/rs25531 polymorphism and non-social abilities, demonstrating discriminant validity of the relationships. We discuss the implications and possible neural mechanisms underlying these novel findings.
面部认知，包括面部身份识别和面部表情处理，是社会情感能力的关键组成部分，使人类成为高度发达的社会生物。然而，对于这些特质领域，基于有充分依据的表型定义来研究基因与行为关联的分子遗传学研究仍然很少。我们研究了与血清素再摄取相关的5-HTTLPR/rs25531多态性与感知和识别面部及面部表情能力之间的关系。为此，我们对230名年轻人的数据进行了结构方程建模，这些数据是通过使用一个全面的多变量任务组，其中包含最大努力任务获得的。通过额外对面流体智力以及即时和延迟记忆因素进行建模，我们旨在探讨5-HTTLPR/rs25531多态性与社会情感能力之间的判别关系。我们发现5-HTTLPR/rs25531多态性与面部情绪感知之间存在强烈关联。两个长（L）等位基因的携带者表现优于一个或两个S等位基因的携带者。面部身份识别和情感面部表情记忆的关联较弱。5-HTTLPR/rs25531多态性与非社会能力之间没有关联，这表明了这些关系的判别效度。我们讨论了这些新发现的意义和可能的神经机制。
