TY - JOUR
T1 - Individual differences in flow proneness are linked to a dopamine D2 receptor gene variant
AU - Gyurkovics, Mate
AU - Kotyuk, Eszter
AU - Katonai, Eniko Rozsa
AU - Horvath, Erzsebet Zsofia
AU - Vereczkei, Andrea
AU - Szekely, Anna
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA K100845 ). We are also grateful for the support of the Active Psychology Foundation.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier Inc..
PY - 2016/5/1
Y1 - 2016/5/1
N2 - Flow is a special mental state characterized by deep concentration that occurs during the performance of optimally challenging tasks. In prior studies, proneness to experience flow has been found to be moderately heritable. In the present study, we investigated whether individual differences in flow proneness are related to a polymorphism of the dopamine D2 receptor coding gene (DRD2 C957T rs6277). This polymorphism affects striatal D2 receptor availability, a factor that has been shown to be related to flow proneness. To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the association between this trait and a specific gene variant. In a sample of 236 healthy Hungarian adults, we found that CC homozygotes report higher flow proneness than do T allele carriers, but only during mandatory activities (i.e., studying and working), not during leisure time. We discuss implications of this result, e.g., the potential mediators of the relationship.
AB - Flow is a special mental state characterized by deep concentration that occurs during the performance of optimally challenging tasks. In prior studies, proneness to experience flow has been found to be moderately heritable. In the present study, we investigated whether individual differences in flow proneness are related to a polymorphism of the dopamine D2 receptor coding gene (DRD2 C957T rs6277). This polymorphism affects striatal D2 receptor availability, a factor that has been shown to be related to flow proneness. To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the association between this trait and a specific gene variant. In a sample of 236 healthy Hungarian adults, we found that CC homozygotes report higher flow proneness than do T allele carriers, but only during mandatory activities (i.e., studying and working), not during leisure time. We discuss implications of this result, e.g., the potential mediators of the relationship.
KW - DRD2 C957T
KW - Flow proneness
KW - Genetic association
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84959275472&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.concog.2016.02.014
DO - 10.1016/j.concog.2016.02.014
M3 - Article
C2 - 26954487
AN - SCOPUS:84959275472
VL - 42
SP - 1
EP - 8
JO - Consciousness and Cognition
JF - Consciousness and Cognition
SN - 1053-8100
ER -