The relevance of the functional 5-HT1A receptor polymorphism for attention and working memory processes during mental rotation of characters

The results support a close interrelation between working memory, attentional and saccadic processes. Yet, these processes are differentially modulated by the 5-HT1A C(−1019)G polymorphism. The 5-HT1A C(−1019)G polymorphism primarily affects attentional processing, whereas processes related to the mental rotation of an object are independent of 5-HT1A genetic variation. It is shown that an increasing number of −1019 G alleles leads to a differential reduction of the N1 above the left and right hemisphere and hence bottom-up attentional processing. In the way increasing numbers of −1019 G alleles lead to a reduction of attentional processes, saccadic activity increases as a similar function of the number of −1019 G alleles. This increase in activity occurs parallel in time to the process of mental rotation. It is hypothesized that decreased attentional processes, dependent on different 5-HT1A C(−1019)G genotypes, may cause parietal networks to increase saccadic activity in order to perform mental rotation.