The DOI matches its Crossref record; 91 of the 91 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Meta-Analysis of the Cognitive Effects of the Catechol-O-Methyltransferase Gene Val158/108Met Polymorphism
Abstract
Background Cognitive endophenotypes may further our understanding of the genetic basis of psychiatric disorders, and the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene is a promising candidate gene for both cognitive function and disorder. We conducted a meta-analysis of reported associations between the COMT Val158/108Met polymorphism and measures of memory and executive function.Methods The PubMed database was searched for studies relating cognitive functions and the COMT Val158/108Met polymorphism. This enabled meta-analyses of six cognitive phenotypes (Trail Making task, verbal recall, verbal fluency, IQ score, n-back task, and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test). Data were extracted by two reviewers and included cognitive scores by COMT genotype, publication year, diagnostic status, ancestry, proportion of male participants, and whether genotype frequencies were consistent with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.Results We found no association between COMT genotype and the majority of phenotypes. There was evidence of association with IQ score (d = .06), which did not differ significantly by ancestry, sex, average sample age, or patient status. For the n-back task, there was no robust evidence for genetic association, but the effect size was significantly larger in patient (d = .40) than nonpatient (d = -.27) populations, larger in both samples with fewer male subjects, and those of greater average age. There was also evidence of publication bias and decreasing effect sizes with later publication.Conclusions Despite initially promising results, the COMT Val158/108Met polymorphism appears to have little if any association with cognitive function. Publication bias may hamper attempts to understand the genetic basis of psychological functions and psychiatric disorders.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“Better working memory (WM) performance (e.g. in N-back tasks), fewer perseverative errors, and higher IQ tend to be associated with the Met allele in healthy individuals (9-11), although some studies have failed to replicate these effects (see 10).”
From Influence of the COMT genotype on working memory and brain activity changes during development (2011) · cites this paper as [10]
In the citing paper
“Better working memory (WM) performance (e.g. in N-back tasks), fewer perseverative errors, and higher IQ tend to be associated with the Met allele in healthy individuals (9-11), although some studies have failed to replicate these effects (see 10).”
From Influence of the COMT genotype on working memory and brain activity changes during development (2011) · cites this paper as [10]
In the citing paper
“Better working memory (WM) performance (e.g. in N-back tasks), fewer perseverative errors, and higher IQ tend to be associated with the Met allele in healthy individuals (9-11), although some studies have failed to replicate these effects (see 10).”
From Influence of the COMT genotype on working memory and brain activity changes during development (2011) · cites this paper as [10]
Citations
Cites
Bias in meta-analysis detected by a simple, graphical test
Egger, M., Smith, G. D., Schneider, M., & Minder, C. (1997) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.315.7109.629 · Cited by 56,722
The Endophenotype Concept in Psychiatry: Etymology and Strategic Intentions
Gottesman, I. I., & Gould, T. D. (2003) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.160.4.636 · Cited by 5,615
J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci
Yudofsky, S. C., & Hales, R. E. (1992) · The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences · doi:10.1176/jnp.4.4.359 · Cited by 3,818
Publication bias in clinical research
Easterbrook, P. J., Gopalan, R., Berlin, J. A., & Matthews, D. R. (1991) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/0140-6736(91)90201-y · Cited by 3,109
Effect of COMT Val 108/158 Met genotype on frontal lobe function and risk for schizophrenia
Egan, M. F., Goldberg, T. E., Kolachana, B. S., Callicott, J. H., Mazzanti, C. M., Straub, R. E., Goldman, D. A., & Weinberger, D. R. (2001) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.111134598 · Cited by 2,416
Schizophrenia genes, gene expression, and neuropathology: on the matter of their convergence
Harrison, P. J., & Weinberger, D. R. (2005) · Molecular Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/sj.mp.4001558 · Cited by 2,020
Chen, J., Lipska, B. K., Halim, N., Ma, Q. D., Matsumoto, M., Melhem, S., Kolachana, B. S., Hyde, T. M., Herman, M. M., Apud, J., et al. (2004) · The American Journal of Human Genetics · doi:10.1086/425589 · Cited by 1,675
Structural magnetic resonance imaging of the adolescent brain
GIEDD, J. N. (2004) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1196/annals.1308.009 · Cited by 1,610
Structural and functional brain development and its relation to cognitive development
Casey, B. J., Giedd, J. N., & Thomas, K. M. (2000) · Biological Psychology · doi:10.1016/s0301-0511(00)00058-2 · Cited by 1,506
In vivo evidence for post-adolescent brain maturation in frontal and striatal regions
Sowell, E. R., Thompson, P. M., Holmes, C. J., Jernigan, T. L., & Toga, A. W. (1999) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/13154 · Cited by 1,439
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Animal models of neuropsychiatric disorders
Nestler, E. J., & Hyman, S. E. (2010) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nn.2647 · Cited by 2,023
Friedman, N. P., & Miyake, A. (2017) · Cortex · doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2016.04.023 · Cited by 1,834
The neuroscience of human intelligence differences
Deary, I. J., Penke, L., & Johnson, W. (2010) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn2793 · Cited by 1,038
Bridgett, D. J., Burt, N. M., Edwards, E. S., & Deater-Deckard, K. D. (2015) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0038662 · Cited by 730
Neural substrates of pleiotropic action of genetic variation in COMT: a meta-analysis
Mier, D., Kirsch, P., & Meyer-Lindenberg, A. (2010) · Molecular Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/mp.2009.36 · Cited by 464
Metadata
- Authors
- Barnett, J. H., Scoriels, L., & Munafò, M. R.
- Affiliations
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- Venue
- Biological Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2008-07
- Volume
- 64
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 137-144
- ISSN
- 0006-3223 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2133169656
- Cited by
- 412
- References
- 90
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 51 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 25 · 2015: 28 · 2014: 32 · 2013: 35 · 2012: 47
- FWCI
- 3.31
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Biological Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Bristol Research (University of Bristol) (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic Associations and Epidemiology
- Keywords
- catechol-O-methyltransferase, cognitive function, executive function, memory, IQ, n-back task, Trail Making Test, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, verbal fluency, word recall, publication bias, genetic association, mental illness, endophenotypes
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Alleles, Catechol O-Methyltransferase, Cognition Disorders, Female, Humans, Intelligence, Male, Memory Disorders, Middle Aged, Neuropsychological Tests, Phenotype, Polymorphism, Genetic, Problem Solving, Sex Factors
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
