Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Genotype Affects Age-Related Changes in Plasticity in Working Memory: A Pilot Study

Table 1

Characteristics of the sample at baseline assessment. Unless otherwise indicated, values represent means ± standard deviations.

	Younger (𝑁=14)			Older (𝑁=25)
	Val/Val (𝑁=3)	Any Met (𝑁=11)	𝑇(12)  (𝑃)	Val/Val (𝑁=11)	Any met (𝑁=14)	𝑇(23)  (𝑃)
Age	26.00±1.00	26.09±2.17	0.069 (0.946)	67.36±4.34	64.64±3.37	1.77 (0.090)
Gender 𝑁 (female/male)	1/2	8/3	𝜒^2(14.1)=1.59,  𝑃=0.224	5/6	7/7	𝜒^2(25.1)=0.05, 𝑃=0.821
Years of education	18.67±0.58	18.18±1.74	0.47 (0.651)	15.46±3.15	16.88±3.62	1.10 (0.281)
Minimental state examination total score	30.00±0.00	29.91±0.30	0.51 (0.621)	29.27±1.01	29.64±0.84	1.00 (0.328)
𝑛-back performance (% correct)	96.23±2.39	97.73±1.81	1.17 (0.266)	88.47±5.96	91.53±5.29	1.36 (0.188)
Digit Span Forward	7.67±0.58	6.91±0.83	1.46 (0.169)	6.64±0.81	7.14±1.03	1.34 (0.194)
Digit Span Backward	6.67±0.58	6.00±0.89	1.20 (0.252)	5.27±1.42	5.21±1.25	0.11 (0.914)
Digit Symbol	46.00±5.29	46.00±7.59	0.00 (1.00)	32.73±6.80	32.79±6.66	0.02 (0.983)
CERAD Delayed Recall	9.00±1.73	9.63±0.50	1.16 (0.269)	7.91±1.87	8.07±1.77	0.22 (0.826)
Verbal Fluency	18.33±1.53	20.55±4.25	0.86 (0.404)	18.00±6.99	18.14±5.48	0.06 (0.955)
Figural Relations	26.67±2.52	24.45±2.70	1.27 (0.227)	18.36±3.93	20.00±3.82	1.05 (0.305)
Raven’s SPM	22.00±2.65	22.36±1.24	0.14 (0.889)	14.91±4.18	17.79±3.26	1.94 (0.065)