Abstract
Numerous studies have indicated a link between the presence of polymorphism in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and cognitive and affective disorders. However, only a few have studied these effects longitudinally along with structural changes in the brain. This study was carried out to investigate whether valine-to-methionine substitution at position 66 (val66met) of pro-BDNF could be linked to alterations in the rate of decline in skilled task performance and structural changes in hippocampal volume. Participants consisted of 144 healthy Caucasian pilots (aged 40–69 years) who completed a minimum of 3 consecutive annual visits. Standardized flight simulator score (SFSS) was measured as a reliable and quantifiable indicator for skilled task performance. In addition, a subset of these individuals was assessed for hippocampal volume alterations using magnetic resonance imaging. We found that val66met substitution in BDNF correlated longitudinally with the rate of decline in SFSS. Structurally, age-dependent hippocampal volume changes were also significantly altered by this substitution. Our study suggests that val66met polymorphism in BDNF can be linked to the rate of decline in skilled task performance. Furthermore, this polymorphism could be used as a predictor of the effects of age on the structure of the hippocampus in healthy individuals. Such results have implications for understanding possible disabilities in older adults performing skilled tasks who are at a higher risk for cognitive and affective disorders.
Highlights
The neurotrophin family is considered recent in the evolutionary scale and has not been identified in Caenorhabditis elegans.[1]
We investigated the link between hippocampal volume and standardized flight simulator score (SFSS) and found no significant correlation between the two parameters (r 1⁄4 À0.101, P 1⁄4 0.346), which was not affected by brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) polymorphism
We found that val66met substitution in BDNF could predict the rate of decline in skilled task performance in middle-aged and older healthy individuals
Summary
The neurotrophin family is considered recent in the evolutionary scale and has not been identified in Caenorhabditis elegans.[1]. BDNF binding and internalization have been shown to have important roles in neuronal survival, differentiation,[3] axonal path finding,[4] regulation of dendritic trafficking to post-synaptic densities,[5] protection against neuronal death in the hippocampus[6] and induction and maintenance of late-phase potentiation.[7]
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