Resting posterior versus frontal delta/theta EEG activity is associated with extraversion and the COMT VAL(158)MET polymorphism

Abstract

Recent studies suggest that resting posterior versus frontal EEG delta/theta activity (delta/theta Pz-Fz) is both sensitive to pharmacological manipulations of neural dopamine and associated with the agency facet of extraversion (i.e., a motivational disposition comprising enthusiasm, energy, assertiveness, achievement striving and social dominance). These observations suggest that posterior versus frontal resting EEG delta/theta activity may represent a useful marker for investigating the molecular genetic basis of extraversion. The present study aimed to test the novel hypothesis of an association between delta/theta Pz-Fz and a functional polymorphism of the enzyme catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT VAL(158)MET) involved in dopamine catabolism. This was conducted in a large EEG data set from the Brain Resource International Database (BRID; resting EEG from N=1093 healthy individuals, 382 of which also genotyped for COMT VAL(158)MET). In summary, we (1) showed for the first time that the VAL allele is associated with increased delta/theta Pz-Fz; (2) replicated the association between extraversion and delta/theta Pz-Fz in a large, heterogeneous sample including both genders; and (3) documented that the VAL allele of the COMT VAL(158)MET is associated with increased extraversion scores, as previously reported for an overlapping BRID sample. This coherent pattern of findings adds further support to the suggestion that the posterior-anterior distribution of resting EEG slow wave activity in the delta/theta range represents a useful tool for probing the dopaminergic basis of extraversion.