Individual differences in learning and decision-making: the role of COMT Val158Met polymorphism in transitive inference

Abstract

Understanding the ordinal relationships between items requires constructing a rank order supporting decision-making between options. This process depends on the ability to learn reciprocal relationships and to select the best option available when making a choice. In such forms of decision-making, the prefrontal cortex (PFC) plays a crucial role in encoding the relative value of alternatives as a decision is formed. Higher-order cognitive abilities are influenced by genetic factors that affect dopamine availability in the PFC, potentially contributing to individual differences. Here, we examined the performance of 83 participants in a transitive inference task (TI), grouped by genotype based on the Val158Met single-nucleotide polymorphism in the Catechol-O-Methyltransferase (COMT) gene. The task included a learning phase in which participants acquired the reciprocal relationships among a set of hierarchically ranked items (A>B>C>D>E>F), followed by a test phase in which they were required to compare all possible item pairs and select the higher-ranked one. While genotype did not significantly influence test-phase performance, it did affect learning efficiency. Specifically, Val homozygotes took a longer learning procedure than both heterozygotes and Met homozygotes during the learning phase. Drift diffusion modelling (DDM) revealed that task performance was explained by the efficiency of evidence accumulation, which was lower in Val homozygotes, accounting for their poorer performance not only during initial learning but also when required to switch to a reversed hierarchical structure (A<B<C<D<E<F). These findings suggest that individual differences in inferential decision-making and cognitive flexibility may be partially driven by genetically determined variations in prefrontal dopamine availability.