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Dopaminergic genotype biases spatial attention in healthy children

Molecular Psychiatry volume 12, pages 786–792 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

In everyday life, our sensory system is bombarded with visual input and we rely upon attention to select only those inputs that are relevant to behavioural goals. Typically, humans can shift their attention from one visual field to the other with little cost to perception. In cases of ‘unilateral neglect’, however, there is a persistent bias of spatial attention towards the same side as the damaged cerebral hemisphere. We used a visual orienting task to examine the influence of functional polymorphisms of the dopamine transporter gene (DAT1) on individual differences in spatial attention in normally developing children. DAT1 genotype significantly influenced spatial bias. Healthy children who were homozygous for alleles that influence the expression of dopamine transporters in the brain displayed inattention for left-sided stimuli, whereas heterozygotes did not. Our data provide the first evidence in healthy individuals of a genetically mediated bias in spatial attention that is related to dopamine signalling.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the Irish Health Research Board, Science Foundation Ireland, the Irish Higher Education Authority's Programme for Research in Third-Level Institutions and the Australian Academy of Science (CDC). MAB is supported by an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Howard Florey Centenary Fellowship. CDC is a David Phillips Fellow of the BBSRC, UK. We thank Jason Mattingley and Rob Hester for helpful discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, School of Psychology and Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    M A Bellgrove

  2. School of Psychology and Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    M A Bellgrove, K A Johnson, A Daibhis, M Daly, D Lambert & I H Robertson

  3. Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK

    C D Chambers

  4. School of Medicine and Health Sciences and Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    K A Johnson, A Daibhis, M Daly, Z Hawi, D Lambert & M Gill

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  1. M A Bellgrove
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Correspondence to M A Bellgrove.

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Bellgrove, M., Chambers, C., Johnson, K. et al. Dopaminergic genotype biases spatial attention in healthy children. Mol Psychiatry 12, 786–792 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4002022

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