Antisaccade deficits reflect abnormalities in executive function linked to various disorders including schizophrenia, externalizing psychopathology, and neurological conditions. We examined the genetic bases of antisaccade error in a sample of community-based twins and parents (N = 4,469). Biometric models showed that about half of the variance in the antisaccade response was due to genetic factors and half due to nonshared environmental factors. Molecular genetic analyses supported these results, showing that the heritability accounted for by common molecular genetic variants approximated biometric estimates. Genome-wide analyses revealed several SNPs as well as two genes-B3GNT7 and NCL-on Chromosome 2 associated with antisaccade error. SNPs and genes hypothesized to be associated with antisaccade error based on prior work, although generating some suggestive findings for MIR137, GRM8, and CACNG2, could not be confirmed.
Keywords: Antisaccade; Endophenotypes; GCTA; Gene-based tests; Genome-wide association study; Heritability; Molecular genetics.
Copyright © 2014 Society for Psychophysiological Research.