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John D. Wiley Seminar Series

Date: June 8, 2012

Time: Noon to 1:00 pm

Title: "Genetic Associations with Visual Orienting in Adults"

Speaker: James Dannemiller, PhD
Lynette S. Autrey Professor of Psychology
Chair, Psychology
Rice University

About the Talk: As preparation for a larger, developmental study examining potential genetic influences on early visual attention, we conducted an exploratory candidate gene study of cued orienting with adults. There is some disagreement in the literature on the involvement of dopaminergic vs. cholinergic genes in visual orienting, so we examined markers on specific dopaminergic genes as well as one cholinergic gene with 161 adults aged 18 to 61 years using a Posner-type, exogenously-cued target detection task. We also examined potential genetic associations separately for the reaction time costs and benefits of invalidly and validly spatially-cued targets, respectively, because many prior studies have combined these into a single validity score, thereby possibly missing important genetic associations with different aspects of the orienting process (e.g., disengage, move, engage). DNA sequencing assays were performed on buccal cells to genotype known genetic markers, and these were examined for association with various measures computed from the target detection task. There were significant associations between visual orienting measures and genetic markers on COMT, DAT1, and APOE (R2 from 4% to 9%). One measure in particular, the RT cost of a dim, invalid cue, was associated with dopaminergic markers on COMT and DAT1 (Lundwall, Guo & Dannemiller, 2012). Additionally, a novel classification and regression tree (CART) analysis with appropriate 10-fold cross-validation suggests that allelic variation on these two markers produces effects on attention that are not additive. If time permits, I will also briefly discuss the plan to use NICHD-funded data collected from infants at the Waisman Center 10-15 years ago to examine possible genetic influences on the development of visual orienting in collaboration with Hill Goldsmith (UW-Madison) and Rebecca A. Lundwall (Rice University).

About the Speaker: Professor Dannemiller holds a named professorship at Rice University where he is the Chair of the Department of Psychology. He was the Chief Editor of Developmental Psychology from 1999-2004, and he has served on numerous NSF grant review panels for 15 years. His role on this NRSA will be as sponsor, and his lab will be the Rice base for the empirical work. With his background in developmental psychology, visual psychophysics, visual attention, and a recent sabbatical in molecular genetics at Ben Gurion University, Dannemiller is optimally suited to contribute to this project. Dannemiller's research focus on early attentional development and his recent work in the molecular genetics of visual orienting cover the topics in the NRSA research plan. Dannemiller has also conducted recent studies on genetic associations with cued visual orienting in adults. His current research program includes work on mechanisms of visual orienting and genetic associations with those mechanisms in addition to early developmental aspects of this problem. Dannemiller fully supports the research and training goals of this application, and he will devote the needed contributed time to it. Dannemiller will supervise the Lundwall dissertation and coordinate the activity at the Rice site, including the efforts of undergraduates involved in this research. Dannemiller, Goldsmith, and Lundwall will communicate regularly, as specified in the training plan. Through Dannemiller's adjunct appointment as a Professor of Neurobiology and Anatomy at the University of Texas Houston Medical School, he will be positioned to take advantage of the additional expertise of the Genetics Core at UT. Additionally, by virtue of his role as an advisor to the development of a Neuroscience Minor at Rice in close collaboration with the Department of Neuroscience at Baylor Medical School, he is also positioned to contribute to the neuroscience training of undergraduates working on this project.

Where: John D. Wiley Conference Center, Room T216, Second Floor, North Tower

For Further Information: Contact Teresa Palumbo at 263-5837 or palumbo@waisman.wisc.edu

This Seminar Series is partially funded by the John D. Wiley Conference Center Fund, the Friends of the Waisman Center and NIH grant P30 HD003352.