Investigating the Genetic Basis of Theory of Mind (ToM): The Role of Catechol-O-Methyltransferase (COMT) Gene Polymorphisms

PLoS ONE

Volumn 7, Issue 11, 2012, Pages

  Xia, Haiwei ^a   Wu, Nan ^a   Su, Yanjie ^a  

^a PEKING UNIVERSITY   (China)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CATECHOL METHYLTRANSFERASE;

ADULT; ARTICLE; CHINESE; COGNITION; COMT GENE; DNA POLYMORPHISM; FEMALE; GENE; GENE FUNCTION; GENE INTERACTION; GENETIC ANALYSIS; GENETIC ASSOCIATION; GENETIC TRAIT; HUMAN; HUMAN EXPERIMENT; MALE; MENTAL PERFORMANCE; MOLECULAR GENETICS; NORMAL HUMAN; SINGLE NUCLEOTIDE POLYMORPHISM; THEORY OF MIND;

ADULT; CATECHOL O-METHYLTRANSFERASE; FEMALE; GENE FREQUENCY; GENOTYPE; HUMANS; MALE; POLYMORPHISM, GENETIC; POLYMORPHISM, SINGLE NUCLEOTIDE; SEX FACTORS; THEORY OF MIND; YOUNG ADULT;

EID: 84870260564     PISSN: None     EISSN: 19326203     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0049768     Document Type: Article

References (38)

1. Wellman HM (1990) The child's theory of mind. Cambridge: MIT Press.
2. Saxe R, Carey S, Kanwisher N, (2004) Understanding other minds: Linking developmental psychology and functional neuroimaging. Annu Rev Psychol 55: 87-124.
3. Wimmer H, Perner J, (1983) Beliefs about beliefs: Representation and constraining function of wrong beliefs in young children understands of deception. Cogn 13: 103-128.
4. Brüne M, Brüne-Cohrs U, (2006) Theory of mind-evolution, ontogeny, brain mechanisms and psychopathology. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 30: 437-455.
5. Hughes C, Cutting AL, (1999) Nature, nurture, and individual differences in early understanding of mind. Psychol Sci 10: 429-432.
6. Nyden A, Hagberg B, Gousse V, Rastam M, (2011) A cognitive endophenotype of autism in families with multiple incidences. Res ASD 5: 191-200.
7. Shamay-Tsoory SG, Tibi-Elhanany Y, Aharon-Peretz J, (2006) The ventromedial prefrontal cortex is involved in understanding affective but not cognitive Theory of Mind stories. Soc Neurosci 1: 149-166.
8. Shamay-Tsoory SG, Tomer R, Yaniv S, Aharon-Peretz J, (2002) Empathy deficits in Asperger syndrome: A cognitive profile. Neurosci 8: 245-252.
9. Shamay-Tsoory SG, Tomer R, Berger BD, Goldsher D, Aharon-Peretz J, (2005) Impaired'affective theory of mind' is associated with right ventromedial prefrontal damage. Cog Behav Neuro 18: 55-67.
10. Abu-Akel A, Shamay-Tsoory S, (2011) Neuroanatomical and neurochemical bases of theory of mind. Neuropsychologia 49: 2971-2984.
11. Popolo M, McCarthy DM, Bhide PG, (2004) Influence of dopamine on precursor cell proliferation and differentiation in the embryonic mouse telencephalon. Dev Neurosci 26: 229-244.
12. Abu-Akel A, (2003b) The neurochemical hypothesis of 'theory of mind'. Med Hypotheses 60: 382-386.
13. Brunet-Gouet E, Decety J, (2006) Social brain dysfunctions in schizophrenia: A review of neuroimaging studies. Pyschiat Res-Neuroim 148: 75-92.
14. Lackner CL, Bowman LC, Sabbagh MA, (2010) Dopaminergic functioning and preschoolers' theory of mind. Neuropsychologia 48 (6): 1767-1774.
15. Lachman HM, Papolos DF, Saito T, Yu YM, Szumlanski CL, et al. (1996) Human catechol-O-methyltransferase pharmacogenetics: description of a functional polymorphism and its potential application to neuropsychiatric disorders. Pharmacogenetics 6 (3): 243-250.
16. Chen J, Lipska BK, Halim N, Ma QD, Matsumoto M, et al. (2004) Functional analysis of genetic variation in catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT): Effects on mRNA, protein, and enzyme activity in postmortem human brain. Am J Hum Genet 75: 807-821.
17. Bassett AS, Caluseriu O, Weksberg R, Young DA, Chow EWC, (2007) Catechol-O-methyl Transferase and Expression of Schizophrenia in 73 Adults with 22q11 Deletion Syndrome. Biol Psychiatry 61: 1135-1140.
18. Lackner CL, Sabbagh MA, Hallinan E, Liu X, Holden J, (2012) Dopamine receptor D4 gene variation predicts preschoolers' developing theory of mind. Dev Sci 15(2): 272-280.
19. Ebstein RP, Israel S, Chew SH, Zhong S, Knafo A, (2010) Genetics of Human Social Behavior. Neuron 65: 831-844.
20. Shifman S, Bronstein M, Sternfeld M, Pisante-Shalom A, Lev-Lehman E, et al. (2002) A highly significant association between a COMT haplotype and schizophrenia. Am J Hum Genet 71 (6): 1296-1302.
21. Handoko HY, Nyholt DR, Hayward NK, Nertney DA, Hannah DE, et al. (2005) Separate and interacting effects within the catechol-Omethyltransferase (COMT) are associated with schizophrenia. Mol Psychiatr 10 (6): 589-597.
22. Nieratschker V, Frank J, Mühleisen TW, Strohmaier J, Wendland JR, et al. (2010) The catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) gene and its potential association with schizophrenia: Findings from a large German case-control and family-based sample. Schizophrenia Res 122: 24-30.
23. Chen J, Calhoun VD, Pearlson GD, Ehrlich S, Turner JA, et al. (2012) Multifaceted genomic risk for brain function in schizophrenia. NeuroImage 61: 866-875.
24. Li T, Yu S, Du J, Chen HH, Jiang HF, et al. (2011) Role of Novelty Seeking Personality Traits as Mediator of the Association between COMT and Onset Age of Drug Use in Chinese Heroin Dependent Patients. PloS one 6(8): e22923.
25. Calati R, Porcelli S, Giegling I, Hartmann AM, Möller H, et al. (2011) Catechol-o-methyltransferase gene modulation on suicidal behavior and personality traits: review, meta-analysis and association study. J Psychiat Res 45: 309-321.
26. Frith CD, Corcoran R, (1996) Exploring "theory of mind" in people with schizophrenia. Psychol Med 26: 521-530.
27. Sarfati Y, Hardy-Bayle MC, Nadel J, Chevalier JF, Wildloecher D, (1997) Attribution of mental states to others by schizophrenic patients. Cogn Neuropsychiatr 2: 1-17.
28. Drury VM, Robinson EJ, Birchwood M, (1998) "Theory of mind"skills during an acute episode of psychosis and following recovery. Psychol Med 28: 1101-1112.
29. Plomin R, Owen MJ, McGuffin P, (1994) The genetic basis of complex human behaviors. Science 264: 1733-1739.
30. Bodden ME, Dodel R, Kalbe E, (2010) Theory of mind in Parkinson's disease and related basal ganglia disorders: a systematic review. Mov Disord 25(1): 13-27.
31. Astington JW, Pelletier J, Homer B, (2002) Theory of mind and epistemological development: The relation between children's second-order false-belief understanding and their ability to reason about evidence. New Ideas Psychol 20(2): 131-144.
32. Jolliffe T, Baron-Cohen S, (1999) The Strange Stories Test: a replication with high functioning adults with autism or Asperger syndrome. J Autism Dev Disord 29: 395-406.
33. Happe FG, (1995) The role of age and verbal ability in the theory of mind task performance of subjects with autism. Child Dev 66: 843-855.
34. Baron-Cohen S, Riordan M, Stone V, Jones R, Plaisted K, (1999) Recognition of faux pas by normally developing children and children with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism. J Autism Dev Disord 29: 407-418.
35. Cleves M, (1999) Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium test and allele frequency estimation. Stata Tech Bull 48: 34-37.
36. Barnes A, Isohanni M, Barnett JH, Pietilainen O, Veijola J, et al. (2012) No association of COMT (Val158Met) genotype with brain structure differences between men and women. PLoS ONE 7(3): e33964.
37. Trivers R (1972) Parental investment and sexual selection. In: Campbell, B. (Ed.), Sexual Selection and the Descent of Man. Aldine-Atherton, Chicago.
38. Bosacki S, Astington JW, (1999) Theory of mind in preadolescence: Relations between social understanding and social competence. Soc Dev 8: 237-255.