Association between the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene and mesolimbic responses to rewards

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  • Damiano, Cara R
    • Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
  • Aloi, Joseph
    • Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
  • Dunlap, Kaitlyn
    • Other Affiliation: Brain Imaging and Analysis Center (BIAC), Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
  • Burrus, Caley J
    • Other Affiliation: Brain Imaging and Analysis Center (BIAC), Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
  • Mosner, Maya G
    • Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
  • Kozink, Rachel V
    • Other Affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
  • McLaurin, Ralph E
    • Other Affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
  • Mullette-Gillman, O’Dhaniel A
    • Other Affiliation: Neuroscience and Behavioral Disorders Program, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore; Psychology Department, National University of Singapore, Singapore
  • Carter, Ronald M
    • Other Affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA; Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
  • Huettel, Scott A
    • Other Affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA; Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA; Departments of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
  • McClernon, Francis J
    • Other Affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA; Department of Neurobiology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
  • Ashley-Koch, Allison
    • Other Affiliation: Department of Medicine, Center for Human Genetics, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
  • Dichter, Gabriel
    • Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
    • Other Affiliation: Brain Imaging and Analysis Center (BIAC), Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
Abstract
  • Background There has been significant progress in identifying genes that confer risk for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). However, the heterogeneity of symptom presentation in ASDs impedes the detection of ASD risk genes. One approach to understanding genetic influences on ASD symptom expression is to evaluate relations between variants of ASD candidate genes and neural endophenotypes in unaffected samples. Allelic variations in the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene confer small but significant risk for ASDs for which the underlying mechanisms may involve associations between variability in oxytocin signaling pathways and neural response to rewards. The purpose of this preliminary study was to investigate the influence of allelic variability in the OXTR gene on neural responses to monetary rewards in healthy adults using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Methods The moderating effects of three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs1042778, rs2268493 and rs237887) of the OXTR gene on mesolimbic responses to rewards were evaluated using a monetary incentive delay fMRI task. Results T homozygotes of the rs2268493 SNP demonstrated relatively decreased activation in mesolimbic reward circuitry (including the nucleus accumbens, amygdala, insula, thalamus and prefrontal cortical regions) during the anticipation of rewards but not during the outcome phase of the task. Allelic variation of the rs1042778 and rs237887 SNPs did not moderate mesolimbic activation during either reward anticipation or outcomes. Conclusions This preliminary study suggests that the OXTR SNP rs2268493, which has been previously identified as an ASD risk gene, moderates mesolimbic responses during reward anticipation. Given previous findings of decreased mesolimbic activation during reward anticipation in ASD, the present results suggest that OXTR may confer ASD risk via influences on the neural systems that support reward anticipation.
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  • Article
Rights statement
  • In Copyright
Rights holder
  • Damiano et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
Journal title
  • Molecular Autism
Journal volume
  • 5
Journal issue
  • 1
Page start
  • 7
Language
  • English
Bibliographic citation
  • Molecular Autism. 2014 Jan 31;5(1):7
Publisher
  • BioMed Central

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