PNAS：记忆处理的基础的独特基因

摘要 : 瑞士巴塞尔大学一项研究发现，独特的遗传谱可能构成了人类事件记忆的具体心理过程的基础。


瑞士巴塞尔大学一项研究发现，独特的遗传谱可能构成了人类事件记忆的具体心理过程的基础。个人事件与经历的记忆被称为事件记忆，它依赖于独特的认知过程。尽管过去的研究已经识别出了与一般记忆表现有关的遗传变异，人们对于学习和记忆维持等特定记忆相关心理过程的遗传基础知道得相对较少。Gediminas Luksys 及其同事对1765名健康的青年成年人进行了一项全基因组关联研究(GWAS)，从而识别出参与事件记忆不同成分的、在生物上相关的基因的集合。在一个言语记忆任务中，受试者被要求在最初呈现之后立即回忆中性、正面和负面的词语，然后在5分钟后再进行回忆。这些行为数据的计算模型揭示出了独特的记忆相关过程，它们与利用全基因组关联研究(GWAS)数据识别出的4个不同的基因集合有联系。例如，学习率与氨基酸化合物SLC转运体有联系，负面情绪调制的记忆强度与胶原蛋白的形成有联系，而基于重复的记忆的改善与一种细胞黏着分子L1CAM的相互作用有联系。此前发现其中一些基因涉及了神经和精神疾病、神经元发育、学习和记忆。这组作者说，对记忆相关遗传路径的这项分析可能帮助开发出神经精神疾病的疗法。

原文链接：

Computational dissection of human episodic memory reveals mental process-specific genetic profiles

原文摘要：

Episodic memory performance is the result of distinct mental processes, such as learning, memory maintenance, and emotional modulation of memory strength. Such processes can be effectively dissociated using computational models. Here we performed gene set enrichment analyses of model parameters estimated from the episodic memory performance of 1,765 healthy young adults. We report robust and replicated associations of the amine compound SLC (solute-carrier) transporters gene set with the learning rate, of the collagen formation and transmembrane receptor protein tyrosine kinase activity gene sets with the modulation of memory strength by negative emotional arousal, and of the L1 cell adhesion molecule (L1CAM) interactions gene set with the repetition-based memory improvement. Furthermore, in a large functional MRI sample of 795 subjects we found that the association between L1CAM interactions and memory maintenance revealed large clusters of differences in brain activity in frontal cortical areas. Our findings provide converging evidence that distinct genetic profiles underlie specific mental processes of human episodic memory. They also provide empirical support to previous theoretical and neurobiological studies linking specific neuromodulators to the learning rate and linking neural cell adhesion molecules to memory maintenance. Furthermore, our study suggests additional memory-related genetic pathways, which may contribute to a better understanding of the neurobiology of human memory.

doi: 10.1073/PNAS.1500860112

作者：Gediminas Luksys

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