COMT GENE

• What does the COMT gene ususally do?

  regulate dopamine activity in the prefrontal cortex (keeping normal levels- but when it malfunctions there is NO REGULATION)
• What is COMT responsible for?

  clearing dopamine from synapses
• what does one form of the COMT gene produce?

  lower activity; which means homeostatic balance ( a self-regulating process by which a living organism can maintain internal stability while adjusting to changing external conditions) is not maintained and therefore this malfunction causes higher levels of dopamine

  • TUKEL 2013
• Where are high levels of dopamine found?

  in many OCD sufferers (linked to compulsive disorders- drive)
• what is the definition of dopamine?

  neurotransmitter in the brain with effects on motivation, drive, memory and pleasure
• what is the definition of a neurotransmitter?


  a chemical substance that plays an important role in the workings of the nervous system by transmittiing nerve imppulses across a synapse