COMT Val158Met — prefrontal cortex dopamine processing
One copy of the COMT Met allele detected (Val/Met heterozygous).
You have one copy of the Met version of COMT (and one of the more common Val version).
An intermediate phenotype. COMT activity is somewhat reduced compared with Val/Val, leading to slightly higher prefrontal dopamine. Effects on cognition and stress response are small.
An in-between profile. Your COMT enzyme is somewhat less active than people with two Val copies, leaving slightly more dopamine around in a thinking part of the brain. The effects on thinking and stress response are small.
What this means
COMT breaks down dopamine, particularly in the prefrontal cortex. The Val158Met variant produces a less stable enzyme, leading to ~25% lower COMT activity. Met/Met individuals have higher baseline prefrontal dopamine, which has been linked — inconsistently — to small differences in working memory, executive function, and stress response. We list this here as informational; the consumer narrative ("warrior" vs "worrier") is more confident than the actual literature.
COMT is an enzyme that breaks down dopamine, a brain chemical important for focus and motivation. It does this especially in the prefrontal cortex — the part of the brain behind your forehead that handles planning and decision-making. The Val158Met version makes the enzyme less stable, so it works about 25% less effectively. People with two Met copies have slightly more dopamine sitting around in this brain region, which has been linked — inconsistently — to small differences in working memory, planning, and stress response. The "warrior vs worrier" framing often used in consumer reports is far more confident than the actual research supports.
Caveats
- Effect sizes are small and many proposed associations have failed to replicate.
- Environment and context dominate any single-gene effect on cognition.
- This is informational only — no clinical action follows from the result.