The Association of DRD2 with Insight Problem Solving

Abstract

Although the insight phenomenon has attracted great attention from psychologists, it is still largely unknown whether its variation in well-functioning human adults has a genetic basis. Several lines of evidence suggest that genes involved in dopamine (DA) transmission might be potential candidates. The present study explored for the first time the association of dopamine D2 receptor gene (DRD2) with insight problem solving. Fifteen single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) covering DRD2 were genotyped in 425 unrelated healthy Chinese undergraduates, and were further tested for association with insight problem solving. Both single SNP and haplotype analysis revealed several associations of DRD2 SNPs and haplotypes with insight problem solving. In conclusion, the present study provides the first evidence for the involvement of DRD2 in insight problem solving, future studies are necessary to validate these findings.

No association of COMT with insight problem solving in Chinese college students

“…Details about the participants have been described in a previous study (Zhang & Zhang, 2016). Briefly, the participants were 425 unrelated healthy Han Chinese college students (76.7% females, M age = 18.9 years, SD = 0.84) without self-reported history of psychiatric disorder.…”

Peer Review #2 of "No association of COMT with insight problem solving in Chinese college students (v0.1)"

“…Peripheral venous blood sample was collected from each participant and genomic DNA was extracted using the method described in a previous study (Zhang & Zhang 2016). The SNP selection was largely based on Jiang et al's study (rs737865,rs5993883,rs4633,rs6267,rs4818,rs4680).…”

Genetic influences on creativity: an exploration of convergent and divergent thinking

“…To the best of our knowledge, there are only two recent genetic studies on insight problem solving that are related to convergent thinking. In both studies, classical insight problems were presented, and the performance scores were found to be correlated with polymorphisms of two SNPs in DRD2 (rs1800467 & rs6278) ( Zhang & Zhang, 2016 ) and one SNP in COMT (rs5993883) ( Jiang, Shang & Su, 2015 ). As insight problem solving is suggested to reflect a kind of convergent thinking ( Jiang, Shang & Su, 2015 ), these results provide preliminary evidence for the possible genetic involvement for convergent thinking.…”