Abstract not found

Research article Genetical genomic determinants of alcohol consumption in rats and

Individuals exhibit substantial heterogeneity in financial risk aversion. Recent work on twins demonstrated that some variation is influenced by individual heritable differences. Despite this, there has been no study investigating possible genetic loci associated with financial risk taking in healthy individuals. Here, we examined whether there is an association between financial risk preferences, elicited experimentally in a game with real monetary payoffs, and the presence of the 7-repeat allele (7R+) in the dopamine receptor D 4 gene as well as the presence of the A1 allele (A1+) in the dopamine receptor D2 gene in 94 young men. Although we found no association between the A1 allele and risk preferences, we did find that 7R+ men are significantly more risk loving than 7R − men. This polymorphism accounts for roughly 20 % of the heritable variation in financial risk taking. We suggest that selection for the 7R allele may be for a behavioral phenotype associated with risk taking. This is consistent with previous evolutionary explanations suggesting that selection for this allele was for behaviors associated with migration and male competition, both of which entail an element of risk. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2012.00101 Intraindividual reaction time variability is malleable: feedback- and education-related reductions in variability with age

doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2012.00013 Activation of nucleus accumbens NMDA receptors differentially affects appetitive or aversive taste learning and memory