This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing theresources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject andinvestigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source,and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed isfor the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator.In this Social Neuroscience proposal, we will examine how genes, age, and gender affect the impact of psychosocial stressors on cognitive performance. Recent research has begun to explore the cognitive neuroscience of social behavior, but less is known about how social behavior affects cognition. Patients withdrawing from cocaine have a high rate of relapse. Psychosocial stress is one major factor that contributes to relapse. In this proposal, we wish to better understand what factors contribute to the adverse cognitive response to psychosocial stress. Polymorphisms of a number of genes affecting the serotonergic, noradrenergic, and dopaminergic systems have been shown to influence an individuals responsiveness to stress. With better understanding of these factors, as well as the roles of age and gender, we can then individualize treatment of drug withdrawal by better recognizing subjects at greatest risk for an adverse response due to psychosocial stress. Therefore, our specific aim is to examine the roles that genes known to influence stress responses as well as the roles that age and gender have on this adverse cognitive response to psychosocial stress. In order to determine the effect of genetics as well as age and gender on the effect of stress on cognition, we will examine the cognitive stress response in a large sample of normal subjects of varying ages, genders and a population distribution of stress-related SNPs. A comparison between risk groups, and other groups based on genotype classifications will be made for cognitive flexibility test mean scores utilizing the Compound Remote Associates test and anagrams, using Analysis of Covariance techniques.
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