Graduate School of Brain Sciences, Tamagawa University, Tamagawagakuen, Machida-shi, Tokyo, Japan.
Brain Science Institute, Tamagawa University, Tamagawagakuen, Machida-shi, Tokyo, Japan.
Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2018 Oct 25;13(10):1091-1097. doi: 10.1093/scan/nsy075.
Previous studies have shown that genetic variations in rs53576, a common variant of the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) resulting from a single nucleotide polymorphism involving an adenine (A)/guanine (G) transition, are associated with attitudinal trust in men. However, the pathway from gene to behaviour has not been elucidated. We conducted the present study to determine whether amygdala volume mediates the association between OXTR rs53576 genotypes and attitudinal trust. Our results revealed that the left amygdala volume was significantly smaller in GG men than in AA and AG men, whereas it was significantly smaller in AA and AG women than in GG women. In addition, the left amygdala volume was negatively associated with attitudinal trust in men, whereas there was no such association in women. We also found a significant mediation effect of the left amygdala volume on the association between OXTR rs53576 genotypes and attitudinal trust in men. The results of our study suggest that the left amygdala volume plays a pivotal role in the association between OXTR rs53576 genotypes and attitudinal trust in men.
先前的研究表明，催产素受体基因（OXTR）的常见变异 rs53576 中的遗传变异与单核苷酸多态性有关，涉及腺嘌呤（A）/鸟嘌呤（G）转换，与男性的态度信任有关。然而，从基因到行为的途径尚未阐明。我们进行了本研究，以确定杏仁核体积是否介导了 OXTR rs53576 基因型与态度信任之间的关联。我们的结果表明，GG 男性的左侧杏仁核体积明显小于 AA 和 AG 男性，而 AA 和 AG 女性的左侧杏仁核体积明显小于 GG 女性。此外，左侧杏仁核体积与男性的态度信任呈负相关，而女性则没有这种关联。我们还发现，左侧杏仁核体积对 OXTR rs53576 基因型与男性态度信任之间的关联存在显著的中介效应。我们的研究结果表明，左侧杏仁核体积在 OXTR rs53576 基因型与男性态度信任之间的关联中起着关键作用。
