Abstract
Significant heterogeneity in cognitive aging is explained by the influence of both genetic and environmental factors. BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) is a neurotropic factor involved in the processes of plasticity in the mature brain. Val66Met polymorphism is a functional polymorphism of the BDNF gene, which determines its association with the architectonics and functions of the brain and the efficiency of cognitive functions. The aim of this study was to identify the aging-related features of the relationship between Val66Met polymorphism and the efficiency of verbal memory processes, determined in the dichotic test, as well as with the background oscillatory activity of the brain, recorded with eyes closed in 52 EEG leads. The study involved 235 right-handed young Caucasians (YA, mean age 21.65 years, SD = 3.18) and 141 older (OA, 64.37 years, SD = 6.04). Genetic differences in memory parameters and endophenotypes of EEG activity were found only in OA individuals. In dichotic testing, subjects with the Val/Val genotype reproduced fewer words from the right ear compared to carriers of the Met allele. When analyzing the EEG, genetic differences were found in the focal indicators of asymmetry in the power of the delta, theta, beta 1 and 2 rhythms, and were due to the greater power of the rhythms in the central temporal sections of the right hemisphere compared to the left hemisphere in Val/Val, with the opposite ratio in carriers of the Met allele. For the beta 2 rhythm, similar differences in asymmetry were also characteristic of the parietal-occipital regions of the hemispheres. It was found that indicators of central temporal asymmetry are mediators in the association between BDNF gene polymorphism and memory efficiency. The data obtained for the first time show age-related differences in the effects of the Val/Met BDNF polymorphism on the efficiency of verbal memory and EEG power and suggest possible relationships between these genotype-associated parameters.
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