96
views
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    0
    shares
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: not found

      AVPR1a and SLC6A4 Gene Polymorphisms Are Associated with Creative Dance Performance

      research-article

      Read this article at

      ScienceOpenPublisherPMC
      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          Dancing, which is integrally related to music, likely has its origins close to the birth of Homo sapiens, and throughout our history, dancing has been universally practiced in all societies. We hypothesized that there are differences among individuals in aptitude, propensity, and need for dancing that may partially be based on differences in common genetic polymorphisms. Identifying such differences may lead to an understanding of the neurobiological basis of one of mankind's most universal and appealing behavioral traits—dancing. In the current study, 85 current performing dancers and their parents were genotyped for the serotonin transporter ( SLC6A4: promoter region HTTLPR and intron 2 VNTR) and the arginine vasopressin receptor 1a (AVPR1a: promoter microsatellites RS1 and RS3). We also genotyped 91 competitive athletes and a group of nondancers/nonathletes ( n = 872 subjects from 414 families). Dancers scored higher on the Tellegen Absorption Scale, a questionnaire that correlates positively with spirituality and altered states of consciousness, as well as the Reward Dependence factor in Cloninger's Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire, a measure of need for social contact and openness to communication. Highly significant differences in AVPR1a haplotype frequencies (RS1 and RS3), especially when conditional on both SLC6A4 polymorphisms (HTTLPR and VNTR), were observed between dancers and athletes using the UNPHASED program package (Cocaphase: likelihood ratio test [LRS] = 89.23, p = 0.000044). Similar results were obtained when dancers were compared to nondancers/nonathletes (Cocaphase: LRS = 92.76, p = 0.000024). These results were confirmed using a robust family-based test (Tdtphase: LRS = 46.64, p = 0.010). Association was also observed between Tellegen Absorption Scale scores and AVPR1a (Qtdtphase: global chi-square = 26.53, p = 0.047), SLC6A4 haplotypes (Qtdtphase: chi-square = 2.363, p = 0.018), and AVPR1a conditional on SCL6A4 (Tdtphase: LRS = 250.44, p = 0.011). Similarly, significant association was observed between Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire Reward Dependence scores and AVPR1a RS1 (chi-square = 20.16, p = 0.01). Two-locus analysis ( RS1 and RS3 conditional on HTTLPR and VNTR) was highly significant (LRS = 162.95, p = 0.001). Promoter repeat regions in the AVPR1a gene have been robustly demonstrated to play a role in molding a range of social behaviors in many vertebrates and, more recently, in humans. Additionally, serotonergic neurotransmission in some human studies appears to mediate human religious and spiritual experiences. We therefore hypothesize that the association between AVPR1a and SLC6A4 reflects the social communication, courtship, and spiritual facets of the dancing phenotype rather than other aspects of this complex phenotype, such as sensorimotor integration.

          Synopsis

          Dancing, integrally related to music, likely has its origins close to the birth of Homo sapiens. The authors hypothesized that there are differences in aptitude, propensity, and need for dancing that may be based on differences in common genetic polymorphisms. Identifying such differences may lead to an understanding of the neurobiological basis of dancing.

          Variants of the serotonin transporter and the arginine vasopressin receptor 1a genes were examined in performing dancers, elite athletes, and nonathletes/nondancers. The serotonin transporter regulates the level of serotonin, a brain transmitter that contributes to spiritual experience. The vasopressin receptor has been shown in many animal studies to modulate social communication and affiliative behaviors. Notably, dancers scored high on the Tellegen Absorption Scale, a correlate of spirituality, and the Reward Dependence factor in Cloninger's Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire, a measure of empathy, social communication, and need for social contact. Significant differences were observed in allele frequencies for both genes when dancers were compared to athletes as well as to nondancers/nonathletes. These two genes were also associated with scores on the Tellegen Absorption Scale and Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire Reward Dependence, suggesting that the association between these genes and dance is mediated by personality factors reflecting the social communication, courtship, and spiritual facets of the dancing phenotype.

          Related collections

          Most cited references66

          • Record: found
          • Abstract: not found
          • Article: not found

          Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders.

            Bookmark
            • Record: found
            • Abstract: found
            • Article: not found

            Association of anxiety-related traits with a polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene regulatory region.

            Transporter-facilitated uptake of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine or 5-HT) has been implicated in anxiety in humans and animal models and is the site of action of widely used uptake-inhibiting antidepressant and antianxiety drugs. Human 5-HT transporter (5-HTT) gene transcription is modulated by a common polymorphism in its upstream regulatory region. The short variant of the polymorphism reduces the transcriptional efficiency of the 5-HTT gene promoter, resulting in decreased 5-HTT expression and 5-HT uptake in lymphoblasts. Association studies in two independent samples totaling 505 individuals revealed that the 5-HTT polymorphism accounts for 3 to 4 percent of total variation and 7 to 9 percent of inherited variance in anxiety-related personality traits in individuals as well as sibships.
              Bookmark
              • Record: found
              • Abstract: found
              • Article: not found

              Effect of COMT Val108/158 Met genotype on frontal lobe function and risk for schizophrenia.

              Abnormalities of prefrontal cortical function are prominent features of schizophrenia and have been associated with genetic risk, suggesting that susceptibility genes for schizophrenia may impact on the molecular mechanisms of prefrontal function. A potential susceptibility mechanism involves regulation of prefrontal dopamine, which modulates the response of prefrontal neurons during working memory. We examined the relationship of a common functional polymorphism (Val(108/158) Met) in the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene, which accounts for a 4-fold variation in enzyme activity and dopamine catabolism, with both prefrontally mediated cognition and prefrontal cortical physiology. In 175 patients with schizophrenia, 219 unaffected siblings, and 55 controls, COMT genotype was related in allele dosage fashion to performance on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test of executive cognition and explained 4% of variance (P = 0.001) in frequency of perseverative errors. Consistent with other evidence that dopamine enhances prefrontal neuronal function, the load of the low-activity Met allele predicted enhanced cognitive performance. We then examined the effect of COMT genotype on prefrontal physiology during a working memory task in three separate subgroups (n = 11-16) assayed with functional MRI. Met allele load consistently predicted a more efficient physiological response in prefrontal cortex. Finally, in a family-based association analysis of 104 trios, we found a significant increase in transmission of the Val allele to the schizophrenic offspring. These data suggest that the COMT Val allele, because it increases prefrontal dopamine catabolism, impairs prefrontal cognition and physiology, and by this mechanism slightly increases risk for schizophrenia.
                Bookmark

                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Role: Editor
                Journal
                PLoS Genet
                pgen
                PLoS Genetics
                1553-7390
                1553-7404
                September 2005
                30 September 2005
                : 1
                : 3
                : e42
                Affiliations
                [1 ] Department of Psychology, Mount Scopus, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
                [2 ] Génétique Maladies Multifactorielles—Institut de Biologie de Lille, Lille, France
                [3 ] Psychology, Behavioral Sciences, Ruppin Academic Center, Emek Hefer, Israel
                [4 ] Israeli Olympic Medical Committee and Medical Faculty, Tel Aviv University, Te Aviv, Israel
                [5 ] Sarah Herzog Memorial Hospital and Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
                [6 ] Musicology Department, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
                University of Oxford, United Kingdom
                Author notes
                * To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: ebstein@ 123456mscc.huji.ac.il
                Article
                05-PLGE-RA-0142R2 plge-01-03-13
                10.1371/journal.pgen.0010042
                1239939
                16205790
                af714c16-750e-42b2-b309-2cf090cc95ac
                Copyright: © 2005 Bachner-Melman et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
                History
                : 27 June 2005
                : 26 August 2005
                Categories
                Research Article
                Evolution
                Neuroscience
                Psychology
                Genetics/Complex Traits
                Homo (Human)
                Custom metadata
                Bachner-Melman R, Dina C, Zohar AH, Constantini N, Lerer E, et al (2005) AVPR1a and SLC6A4 gene polymorphisms are associated with creative dance performance. PLoS Genet 1(3): e42.

                Genetics
                Genetics

                Comments

                Comment on this article