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GENETIC STUDY: Smoking status moderates the association of the dopamine D4 receptor ( DRD4 ) gene VNTR polymorphism with selective processing of smoking‐related cues
Author(s) -
Munafò Marcus R.,
Johnstone Elaine C.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
addiction biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.445
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1369-1600
pISSN - 1355-6215
DOI - 10.1111/j.1369-1600.2008.00098.x
Subject(s) - craving , stroop effect , variable number tandem repeat , psychology , cue reactivity , allele , addiction , genetics , gene , neuroscience , biology , cognition
Recently, a variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) polymorphism in the dopamine D4 receptor ( DRD4 ) gene has been reported to be associated with greater craving and more attention to smoking cues, following a cue‐elicited craving procedure. We investigated whether the DRD4 VNTR 7‐repeat polymorphism is associated with selective processing of smoking‐related stimuli, using a modified Stroop task, and whether smoking status moderates this association. Thirty‐one current smokers and 17 ex‐smokers attended a single testing session and completed the modified Stroop task. The experimental design included two between‐subjects factors of smoking status (current smoker, ex‐smoker) and DRD4 genotype (short, long). The DRD4 VNTR polymorphism was associated with selective processing of smoking‐related stimuli in ex‐smokers but not in current smokers. Our data, therefore, provide partial support for our primary hypothesis and extend on previous work which suggests a role for variation at the DRD4 locus in modulating reactivity to drug‐related cues.