A genome-wide association study of Agreeableness suggests a novel association in the NAV2 gene in Korean women

Abstract

Data from genome-wide association (GWA) studies have been used to find the common variants of personality. In a previous study, we reported that neurotransmitters and the olfactory receptor 1A2 gene are associated with neuroticism in a cohort of young Korean women. However, many genetic variants that are highly associated with certain personality traits are still unknown. Here, we report on a meta-analysis of GWA data for personality in three cohorts samples (2045 individuals). All participants were of Korean ancestry. Personality traits were measured with the Revised Neuroticism-Extraversion-Openness Personality Inventory to assess five factors: Neuroticism, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Openness, and Conscientiousness. In either discovery stage, classical association analyses were performed under an additive model followed by meta-analysis using the weighted inverse variance method. We observed consistent direction of effect and significant association of NAV2 gene and Agreeableness in either the discovery and combined stage (p=7.85×10-7, for meta-analysis). NAV2 gene involves in optic nerve development and sensory perception of smell and sound. We previously reported that the sensory system may play an important role in personality, and the present study leads to the same conclusion. The sensory system affects personality as a filter of the acceptance system, which may have an advantage to reconstruction.This study was supported by a grant of the National Project for Personalized Genomic Medicine, Ministry for Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea (A111218).