Ассоциации между полиморфизмом STin2VNTR гена транспортера серотонина и характеристиками внимания при старении зависят от интеллектуальной среды профессиональной деятельности

A wide variability of mental aging is known to be the result of the increasing influence of environmental and genetic factors with age. Previously, we determined that cognitive training, due to the high saturation of the intellectual environment of professional activity (scientists, HД, compared with people not associated with professional scientific activity, HHД), prevents age-related changes in a number attention systems during non-pathological aging. With regard to the role of genetic factors, it has been shown that cognitive abilities and the rate of their extinction in old age are largely associated with polymorphisms of the serotonin transporter gene. According to the hypothesis of an increase in the influence of genetic factors against the background of a decrease in cognitive reserves, the purpose of this study was to compare the effects of the STin2VNTR polymorphism of the serotonin transporter gene on attention characteristics in young (19-35 years old) and elderly (over 55) representatives of the ND (n = 157) and NND (n = 158) groups. The indicators of three systems of attention (vigilance, orientation, and executive) in the ANT (Attentional network test) test and hemispheric characteristics of the motor component of the orienting response to novelty were analyzed depending on the 10/10 (rare allele 9 was excluded from consideration), 10/12 and 12/12 genotypes of the STin2VNTR polymorphism. It was found that belonging to the HД group levels out age and genetic differences. Genetic differences were manifested in elderly subjects of the HHД group and were characterized by high values of the vigilance, right hemispheric orienting reaction and a decrease in the effectiveness of executive attention in individuals with the 10/10 genotype compared with carriers of the allele 12. The findings suggest that older subjects with the 10/10 genotype may be more sensitive to external factors, in particular, such as mental training.