Effects of the 5-HTTLPR Polymorphism of the Serotonin Transporter Gene on the Recognition of Mimicked Emotional Expressions in Schizophrenia

Abstract

Existing data point to a link, within the general population, between polymorphic variants of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR SLC6A4) and catechol-O-methyltransferase on the one hand and the processing of information related to emotional facial expressions on the other. Schizophrenia patients are characterized by a defi cit in the recognition of mimicked emotional expressions, which has adverse effects on their social adaptation. With the aim of seeking the molecular mechanisms of this defi cit, we have assessed the main and epistatic effects of these polymorphisms on the recognition of emotions among schizophrenia patients (n = 299) and healthy control subjects (n = 232). The 5-HTTLPR polymorphism showed a signifi cant relationship with the recognition of emotions by patients. Homozygotes for the long allele identifi ed facial emotions signifi cantly better than carriers of the short allele (F = 8.00, p = 0.005). Although the recognition of emotions in the patients group correlated with negative symptoms, verbal learning, and trait anxiety, these signs did not have signifi cant modifying infl uences on the association detected here. COMT was found to have no effect on the recognition of emotions either in normal subjects or in schizophrenia patients.

Individual Differences in the Speed of Facial Emotion Recognition Show Little Specificity but Are Strongly Related with General Mental Speed: Psychometric, Neural and Genetic Evidence

“…The Met variant produces the enzyme with much lower activity than the Val variant, leading to higher dopamine concentrations in the synaptic cleft in carriers of the Met variant. Previous studies revealed the COMT val158met polymorphism to be correlated with general cognitive abilities (Kiy et al, 2013 ; Alfimova et al, 2015 ), with carriers of the Met allele usually outperforming Val+ carriers to a small degree.…”

“…Furthermore, also using latent variable modeling to test discriminant relationships of the COMT val158met polymorphism with facets of cognitive abilities, Kiy et al ( 2013 ) reported the COMT genotype to be related with general fluid abilities but not with face cognition ability after accounting for general cognition. Alfimova et al ( 2015 ) also showed the COMT val158met polymorphism to be unrelated with emotion recognition in both, healthy persons and patients with schizophrenia.…”

“…Here we first focus on the Catechol-O-Methyl-Transferase (COMT) val158met polymorphism, mainly studied in its association with general cognitive functioning. Second, we investigated the serotonin transporter-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR), commonly related with emotion processing (von dem Hagen et al, 2011 ; Koizumi et al, 2013 ; Alfimova et al, 2015 ).…”

“…The 5-HTTLPR polymorphism has been related to emotion perception, both in healthy persons and patients with schizophrenia. L allele carriers have been reported to perform better than S carriers in emotion perception (Alfimova et al, 2015 ). 5-HTTLPR polymorphism has been also found to account for anxiety-related personality traits (Lesch et al, 1996 ) and to influence the sensitivity to positive and negative emotions (Koizumi et al, 2013 ).…”

Association of rs4680 COMT, rs6280 DRD3, and rs7322347 5HT2A With Clinical Features of Youth-Onset Schizophrenia

“…Data on the association of certain genetic polymorphisms with particular manifestations of schizophrenia are scarce. Examples are links: between polymorphism in solute carrier family 6 member 4 ( SLC6A4 ) gene with defect in facial emotion recognition in schizophrenia (7), between polymorphism in 2’3’-cyclonucleotide 3’-phosphodiesterase ( CNP ) gene with psychopathological symptoms including catatonia, depression, anxiety, and autism manifestations (8) and polymorphism in a brain-derived neurotrophic factor ( BDNF ) gene with symptoms of insertion and withdrawal of thoughts, verbal hallucinations, and delusions (9).…”