A Combination of Dopamine Genes Predicts Success by Professional Wall Street Traders

What determines success on Wall Street? This study examined if genes affecting dopamine levels of professional traders were associated with their career tenure. Sixty professional Wall Street traders were genotyped and compared to a control group who did not trade stocks. We found that distinct alleles of the dopamine receptor 4 promoter (DRD4P) and catecholamine-O-methyltransferase (COMT) that affect synaptic dopamine were predominant in traders. These alleles are associated with moderate, rather than very high or very low, levels of synaptic dopamine. The activity of these alleles correlated positively with years spent trading stocks on Wall Street. Differences in personality and trading behavior were also correlated with allelic variants. This evidence suggests there may be a genetic basis for the traits that make one a successful trader

Years working as a trader correlates with DA levels as determined by COMT alleles (r

<p> = <b>.19>0, one-tailed t-test P</b> = <b>.05).</b> Those with the lowest COMT-related synaptic DA category (G/G) averaged 6.5 years of trading experience, while those in the highest category (A/A) averaged 10.6 years trading stocks (one tailed t-test P = .05).</p

Professional traders were 36% less likely to carry the high activity S allele of the DRD4P gene than were controls (Professionals: 30%, Controls: 47%; P

<p> = <b>.06).</b> Traders had the high activity A/A COMT allele 138% more than controls compared to the lower activity A/G or G/G alleles (Professionals: 31% A/A; Controls: 13% A/A; P = .019).</p

Endogenous Oxytocin Release Eliminates In-Group Bias in Monetary Transfers With Perspective-Taking

Oxytocin (OT) has been shown to facilitate trust, empathy and other prosocial behaviors. At the same time, there is evidence that exogenous OT infusion may not result in prosocial behaviors in all contexts, increasing in-group biases in a number of studies. The current investigation seeks to resolve this inconsistency by examining if endogenous OT release is associated with in-group bias. We studied a large group of participants (N = 399) in existing groups and randomly formed groups. Participants provided two blood samples to measure the change in OT after a group salience task and then made computer-mediated monetary transfer decisions to in-group and out-group members. Our results show that participants with an increase in endogenous OT showed no bias in monetary offers in the ultimatum game (UG) to out-group members compared to in-groups. There was also no bias in accepting UG offers, though in-group bias persisted for a unilateral monetary transfer. Our analysis shows that the strength of identification with one’s group diminished the effects that an increase in OT had on reducing bias, but bias only recurred when group identification reached 87% of its maximum value. Our results indicate that the endogenous OT system appears to reduce in-group bias in some contexts, particularly those that require perspective-taking