Alfimova, M. , Korovaitseva, G. , Lezheiko, T. & Golimbet, V.
Mental Health Research Center RAMS
The objective of this study was to investigate whether the same sets of genes influence executive functioning during neuropsychological testing and in everyday behavior. Overlapping samples of healthy individuals completed neuropsychological tests measuring executive functions (n=150) and the Self Report form of the Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Function - Adult version (BRIEF-A) (n=100). The samples were genotyped for genes involved in dopaminergic neurotransmission (DRD4, COMT, MAOA) and neuroplasticity (BDNF, SNAP-25, NRG1). We failed to reveal strong relations between the BRIEF-A and standardized neuropsychological tests of executive functions. Neuropsychological measures showed specific associations with both dopamine system and neuroplasticity genes. A BRIEF-A score correlated only with dopaminergic genes, different alleles of DRD4, COMT, and MAOA being related to higher subjective rating of everyday executive functioning in men and women. The results suggest that dopaminergic system genes plays a critical role in everyday executive functions/self-regulation, while pure cognitive executive functions are influenced by a larger number of gene sets involved in different types of CNS processes.