Association of NEO-PI Neuroticism and Extraversion with SNPs from the Dopaminergic System
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Authors
Kokoszka, Noah A.
Issue Date
2011
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
The success of genetic studies in the area of mental health has been greatly limited by the
complexity of psychiatric diseases. Therefore, a method that involves examining personality
traits (endophenotypes) as risk factors that are correlated with psychiatric disorders is being
implemented. Personality, a person’s thoughts, feelings and behaviors, is of particular interest to
mental health researchers. Extreme scores on personality tests can often be risk factors of various
mental health disorders. Mental health disorders, for the purposes of this study, are viewed at as
phenotypes. In this study, each of these phenotypes has several components known as
endophenotypes. For example, bipolar disorder (phenotype) consists of anxiety, depression, and
positive emotions (endophenotypes). Due to scientific findings that suggest a strong relationship
between an individual’s personality and their genetics, these endophenotypes can serve as
biomarkers that link a phenotype with a SNP (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism) if the
association between the endophenotypes and SNP is strong enough. The endophenotypes used in
this study are facets from two domains, Extraversion and Neuroticism, of the Neuroticism-
Extraversion-Openness Personality Inventory (NEO-PI) personality test.In this study, blood samples were taken and the NEO-PI personality test was
administered to 903 participants. After the participants had their genomes sequenced, 64 SNPs of
the Dopamine system from six genes (DBH, DRD1, DRD2, DRD3, DRD4 and SLC6A3) were
examined in order to find any associations between SNPs of the Dopamine system and the NEOPI
personality traits of Neuroticism and Extraversion. SNP rs6350 and rs11747728 were both
found to be significantly associated with Neuroticism. In addition, it was found that rs11747728
not only had a significant association with Extraversion, but that the significance of its
association was so strong that it passed correction for multiple testing. Since this finding has not een reported before, more tests must be done in order to solidify the validity of this result.
Future directions include documenting associations between mental illnesses and
endophenotypes, and determining the functional significance (if any) that rs11747728 has on its
corresponding protein.
Description
v, 26 p.
Citation
Publisher
Kalamazoo College
License
U.S. copyright laws protect this material. Commercial use or distribution of this material is not permitted without prior written permission of the copyright holder.