Genetic polymorphisms in COMT and BDNF influence synchronization dynamics of human neuronal oscillations
Jaana Simola,
Felix Siebenhühner,
Vladislav Myrov,
Katri Kantojärvi,
Tiina Paunio,
J. Matias Palva,
Elvira Brattico,
Satu Palva
Affiliations
Jaana Simola
Neuroscience Center, Helsinki Institute of Life Science, University of Helsinki, Haartmaninkatu 3, 00014 Helsinki, Finland; Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies (HCAS), University of Helsinki, Finland; BioMag Laboratory, HUS Medical Imaging Centre, 00029 HUS, Finland; Corresponding author
Felix Siebenhühner
Neuroscience Center, Helsinki Institute of Life Science, University of Helsinki, Haartmaninkatu 3, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
Vladislav Myrov
Neuroscience Center, Helsinki Institute of Life Science, University of Helsinki, Haartmaninkatu 3, 00014 Helsinki, Finland; Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering (NBE), Aalto University, 02150 Espoo, Finland
Katri Kantojärvi
Department of Public Health and Welfare, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, 00271 Helsinki, Finland; Department of Psychiatry and SleepWell Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
Tiina Paunio
Department of Public Health and Welfare, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, 00271 Helsinki, Finland; Department of Psychiatry and SleepWell Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
J. Matias Palva
Neuroscience Center, Helsinki Institute of Life Science, University of Helsinki, Haartmaninkatu 3, 00014 Helsinki, Finland; Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering (NBE), Aalto University, 02150 Espoo, Finland; Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging (CCNi), Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QB, UK
Elvira Brattico
Center for Music in the Brain (MIB), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University &The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark; Department of Education, Psychology, Communication, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70121 Bari, Italy
Satu Palva
Neuroscience Center, Helsinki Institute of Life Science, University of Helsinki, Haartmaninkatu 3, 00014 Helsinki, Finland; Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging (CCNi), Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QB, UK; Corresponding author
Summary: Neuronal oscillations, their inter-areal synchronization, and scale-free dynamics constitute fundamental mechanisms for cognition by regulating communication in neuronal networks. These oscillatory dynamics have large inter-individual variability that is partly heritable. We hypothesized that this variability could be partially explained by genetic polymorphisms in neuromodulatory genes. We recorded resting-state magnetoencephalography (MEG) from 82 healthy participants and investigated whether oscillation dynamics were influenced by genetic polymorphisms in catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Val66Met. Both COMT and BDNF polymorphisms influenced local oscillation amplitudes and their long-range temporal correlations (LRTCs), while only BDNF polymorphism affected the strength of large-scale synchronization. Our findings demonstrate that COMT and BDNF genetic polymorphisms contribute to inter-individual variability in neuronal oscillation dynamics. Comparison of these results to computational modeling of near-critical synchronization dynamics further suggested that COMT and BDNF polymorphisms influenced local oscillations by modulating the excitation-inhibition balance according to the brain criticality framework.
