Hannes Rössler

Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin

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Philipp Sterzer

University of Basel

Maria Sekutowicz

Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin

Katharina Schmack

University of Liverpool

Daniel J. Müller

University of Toronto

Marcus Rothkirch

Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin

John–Dylan Haynes

Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin

Eva J. Brandl

Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin

Predrag Petrović

Karolinska Institutet

Ana Gómez-Carrillo de Castro

Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin

Andreas Heinz

Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin

Cooperative Institutions

Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Freie Universität Berlin

Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin

Berlin Institute of Health at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Einstein Center for Neurosciences Berlin

Brain (Germany)

German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases

University College London

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Linking unfounded beliefs to genetic dopamine availability

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (2015)

Katharina Schmack Hannes Rössler Maria Sekutowicz Eva J. Brandl Daniel J. Müller

Unfounded convictions involving beliefs in the paranormal, grandiosity ideas or suspicious thoughts are endorsed at varying degrees among the general population. Here, we investigated the neurobiopsychological basis of the observed inter-individual variability in the propensity toward unfounded beliefs. One hundred two healthy individuals were genotyped for four polymorphisms in the COMT gene (rs6269, rs4633, rs4818, and rs4680, also known as val (158) met) that define common functional haplotypes with substantial impact on synaptic dopamine degradation, completed a questionnaire measuring unfounded beliefs, and took part in a behavioral experiment assessing perceptual inference. We found that greater dopamine availability was associated with a stronger propensity toward unfounded beliefs, and that this effect was statistically mediated by an enhanced influence of expectations on perceptual inference. Our results indicate that genetic differences in dopaminergic neurotransmission account for inter-individual differences in perceptual inference linked to the formation and maintenance of unfounded beliefs. Thus, dopamine might be critically involved in the processes underlying one's interpretation of the relationship between the self and the world.

rs4680

10.3389/fnhum.2015.00521

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Citations (20)

Nomaden, Geister, Eremiten / Nomads, Ghosts and Recluses

DETAIL eBooks (2016)

Hannes Rössler

10.11129/9783955533175-002

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Delusions and the Role of Beliefs in Perceptual Inference

Journal of Neuroscience (2013)

Katharina Schmack Ana Gómez-Carrillo de Castro Marcus Rothkirch Maria Sekutowicz Hannes Rössler

Delusions are unfounded yet tenacious beliefs and a symptom of psychotic disorder. Varying degrees of delusional ideation are also found in the healthy population. Here, we empirically validated a neurocognitive model that explains both the formation and the persistence of delusional beliefs in terms of altered perceptual inference. In a combined behavioral and functional neuroimaging study in healthy participants, we used ambiguous visual stimulation to probe the relationship between delusion-proneness and the effect of learned predictions on perception. Delusional ideation was associated with less perceptual stability, but a stronger belief-induced bias on perception, paralleled by enhanced functional connectivity between frontal areas that encoded beliefs and sensory areas that encoded perception. These findings suggest that weakened lower-level predictions that result in perceptual instability are implicated in the emergence of delusional beliefs. In contrast, stronger higher-level predictions that sculpt perception into conformity with beliefs might contribute to the tenacious persistence of delusional beliefs.

Neurocognitive

10.1523/jneurosci.1778-13.2013

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The influence of dopamine‐related genes on perceptual stability

European Journal of Neuroscience (2013)

Katharina Schmack Maria Sekutowicz Hannes Rössler Eva J. Brandl Daniel J. Müller

Bistable perception is the spontaneous and automatic alternation between two different perceptual states that occurs when sensory information is ambiguous. Perceptual alternation rates are robust within individuals but vary substantially between individuals. Slowed perceptual switching has been consistently reported in patients with bipolar disorder (BPD) and has been suggested as a trait marker for this disease. Although genetic factors have been implicated in both BPD and bistable perception, the underlying biological mechanisms that mediate the observed perceptual stability in BPD remain elusive. Here, we tested the effect of two variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) polymorphisms in DRD4 and DAT1 (SLC6A3), both candidate genes for BPD with functional impact on dopaminergic neurotransmission, on bistable perception in a cohort of 108 healthy human subjects. The BPD risk allele DRD4-2R was significantly associated with slow perceptual switching. There was no effect of DAT1 genotype on bistable perception. Our findings indicate that genetic differences in dopaminergic neurotransmission linked to BPD also account for interindividual variability in bistable perception, thus providing a genetic basis for perceptual stability as a trait marker of BPD.

Bistability

Alternation (linguistics)

Trait

10.1111/ejn.12339

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Neurobiologische Grundlagen des Einflusses von Vorhersagen auf die Wahrnehmung - Implikationen für die Pathogenesemodelle von Schizophrenie und bipolarer Störung

Hannes Rössler

10.17169/refubium-7297

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Delusions and the role of beliefs in perceptual inference

Perception (2012)

Philipp Sterzer Marcus Rothkirch Maria Sekutowicz Hannes Rössler John–Dylan Haynes

10.1068/v120603

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Citations (1)