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Cognitive control and the COMT Val158Met polymorphism: genetic modulation of videogame training and transfer to task-switching efficiency

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Abstract

The study investigated whether successful transfer of game-based cognitive improvements to untrained tasks might be modulated by preexisting neuro-developmental factors, such as genetic variability related to the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT)—an enzyme responsible for the degradation of dopamine. The COMT Val158Met genotype may differentially affect cognitive stability and flexibility, and we hypothesized that Val/Val homozygous individuals (who possess low prefrontal dopamine levels) show more pronounced cognitive flexibility than Met/-carriers (who possess high prefrontal dopamine levels). We trained participants, genotyped for the COMT Val158Met polymorphism on playing “Half-Life 2”, a first-person shooter game which has been shown to improve cognitive flexibility. Pre-training (baseline) and post-training measures of cognitive flexibility were acquired by means of a task-switching paradigm. As expected, Val/Val homozygous individuals showed larger beneficial transfer effects than Met/-carriers. Our findings support the idea that genetic predisposition modulates transfer effects and that playing first-person shooter games promotes cognitive flexibility in individuals with a suitable genetic predisposition.

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Acknowledgments

We thank our Bachelor and Master students for their enthusiasm and invaluable assistance in recruiting, testing the participants of this study and collecting the data.

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Correspondence to Lorenza S. Colzato.

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Colzato, L.S., van den Wildenberg, W.P.M. & Hommel, B. Cognitive control and the COMT Val158Met polymorphism: genetic modulation of videogame training and transfer to task-switching efficiency. Psychological Research 78, 670–678 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-013-0514-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-013-0514-8

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