A functional variant in MIR137, a candidate gene for schizophrenia, affects Stroop test performance in young adults.

MIR137, a brain expressed miRNA, has been identified as a top novel susceptibility gene for schizophrenia (SZ). 230 healthy participants completed the Stroop test and were genotyped for a functional Variable Number Tandem Repeat (VNTR) in MIR137 gene. MIR137 VNTR genotypes were associated with differences in Stroop facilitation and accuracies in congruent trials and for the total number of errors. This is the first study of the functional VNTR in MIR137 gene and Stroop test performance in healthy subjects. Our results could have important implications for the identification of genetic candidates for endophenotypes for SZ.