The Influence of Nutritional Factors on Verbal Deficits and Psychopathic Personality Traits: Evidence of the Moderating Role of the MAOA Genotype.

Dylan Jackson,Kevin Beaver

doi:10.3390/ijerph121215017

Abstract

The current study explores whether: (a) nutritional factors among adolescent males predict their risk of exhibiting verbal deficits and psychopathic traits during adulthood and (b) the link between nutritional factors and these outcomes is conditioned by the MAOA genotype. The study analyzes data from the U.S. National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), a nationally representative, genetically informative sample. We find evidence that meal deprivation increases the likelihood of both verbal deficits and psychopathic personality traits, whereas poor quality nutrition increases the risk of verbal deficits. We detect the presence of a number of gene-environment interactions between measures of food quality and MAOA genotype, but no evidence of GxE in the case of meal deprivation. Limitations are noted and avenues for future research are discussed.

Highlights

Adequate nutrition is an essential component of healthy brain development [1]
Research has shown that poor nutrition during the early stages of the life course increases the likelihood of various criminogenic traits and behaviors during childhood and adolescence, including ADHD [11], externalizing behaviors [12,13], and aggressive/delinquent behaviors [14]
We explore the possibility that the influence of poor nutrition on verbal deficits and psychopathic personality traits among males is conditioned by allelic variation on monoamine oxidase A (MAOA)

Summary

Introduction

Adequate nutrition is an essential component of healthy brain development [1]. Poor nutrition has the potential to impair learning/memory [3,4], reduce verbal ability [5,6,7], diminish executive functions [8,9], and interfere with modulators of synaptic plasticity, such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) [2,10]. Inadequate nutrition may increase the risk of antisocial traits and behaviors. Research has shown that poor nutrition during the early stages of the life course increases the likelihood of various criminogenic traits and behaviors during childhood and adolescence, including ADHD [11], externalizing behaviors [12,13], and aggressive/delinquent behaviors [14]. Psychopathic individuals, tend to exhibit brain deficits [15] that are often directly or indirectly influenced by the adequacy and quality of nutrition [4]

Objectives

Methods

Conclusion