Exome sequencing of healthy phenotypic extremes links TROVE2 to emotional memory and PTSD

Abstract

Many mental disorders represent the extremes of the normal distribution of traits, which are related to multiple cognitive and emotional dimensions. By performing whole-exome sequencing of healthy, young subjects with extremely high versus extremely low aversive memory performance, we identified TROVE2 as a gene implicated in emotional memory in health and disease. TROVE2 encodes Ro60, a broadly expressed RNA-binding protein implicated in the regulation of inflammatory gene expression and autoimmunity. A regulatory TROVE2 variant was linked to higher emotional memory capacity and higher emotional memory-related brain activation in healthy subjects. In addition, TROVE2 was associated with traumatic memory and the frequency of post-traumatic stress disorder in genocide survivors. TROVE2, a gene implicated in inflammatory response and autoimmunity, is also associated with enhanced memory for emotionally charged events in post-traumatic stress disorder.