Relación del gen dopaminérgico COMT en el desempeño de tareas de inhibición

We investigated the relationship between a functional polymorphism of the COMT gene and neuropsychological performance in healthy children. Specifically inhibition was studied. The Val108/158Met polymorphism of the COMT gene was genotyped in 248 healthy children aged 3-6 years. Groups were divided according to polymorphism type Val/Val (n=83), Val/Met (n=76) and Met/Met (n=89). All children were tested with a neuropsychological test (Stroop) of executive functions that depend on the Prefrontal Cortex. Neuropsychological performance was compared across genotype groups using an analysis of variance (p≤.05). Results: All children were similar with regard to developmental characteristics. Children carrying the Met/Met polymorphism performed significantly better on tasks related to inhibition with emotional component than children carrying Val/Val genotype. These results seem to reflect the role of COMT enzyme as a regulator of DA and that both hypermetabolism and hypometabolism has important implications for the EF.