Эмоциональная валентность зрительных сцен: существует ли связь спонтанной электрической активности головного мозга и гена COMT?

Introduction. The recognition of emotional context in visual scenes plays a crucial role in an individual's successful socio-psychological adaptation to various conditions in both real and virtual life. However, the current understanding of genetic factors related to the neurobiological mechanisms of spatio-temporal patterns of brain electrical potentials during the differentiation of emotional valence in visual scenes is limited. The catechol-O-methyltransferase ferment, COMT, is linked to the duration of monoamine presence in the synaptic cleft and influences the duration and intensity of emotional reactions. Genotypes for the Val158Met polymorphic locus (rs4680) are associated with various characteristics in the emotional and cognitive domains of carriers, such as anxiety and cognitive control. Consequently, our study aimed to explore the spontaneous electrical activity of the brain in carriers with different genotypes of the COMT gene when tackling challenges related to determining the emotional valence of visual scenes. Methods. To achieve this objective, we employed several methods, including genotyping (on DNA extracted from buccal epithelial cells), electrophysiological techniques (EEG recording in 128 leads), behavioral assessments (evaluation of accuracy in recognizing the emotional valence of visual scenes), and statistical analyses (spectral and coherence EEG analyses, ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis Test, Dunn's Post Hoc Comparisons for behavioral data). Results. The EEG data analysis, categorized by genotypes, revealed a correlation between COMT gene genotypes and spectral characteristics of the EEG. Additionally, we found associations between different COMT gene genotypes and the accuracy in assessing the emotional valence of visual scenes. Discussion. These findings contribute to and broaden existing knowledge regarding the link between the catechol-O-methyltransferase gene, spontaneous electrical brain activity, and the proficiency in tasks involving the determination of emotional valence in visual scenes.