AUTHOR=Colzato Lorenza S., van Muijden Jesse , Band Guido P., Hommel Bernhard 

TITLE=Genetic Modulation of Training and Transfer in Older Adults: BDNF Val66Met Polymorphism is Associated with Wider Useful Field of View

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=2

YEAR=2011

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00199

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00199

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<p>Western society has an increasing proportion of older adults. Increasing age is associated with a general decrease in the control over task-relevant mental processes. In the present study we investigated the possibility that successful transfer of game-based cognitive improvements to untrained tasks in elderly people is modulated by preexisting neuro-developmental factors as genetic variability related to levels of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), an important neuromodulator underlying cognitive processes. We trained participants, genotyped for the BDNF Val<sup>66</sup>Met polymorphism, on cognitive tasks developed to improve dynamic attention. Pre-training (baseline) and post-training measures of attentional processes (divided and selective attention) were acquired by means of the useful field of view task. As expected, Val/Val homozygous individuals showed larger beneficial transfer effects than Met/-carriers. Our findings support the idea that genetic predisposition modulates transfer effects.</p>