We examined whether any of the 50 SNPs with the lowest P-value for each scale were in or close to a gene of known relevant function. None of the top SNPs were previously related directly to personality. However, one of the top SNPs (rs10176705) for Novelty Seeking was located intronic to NRXN1, a gene previously found to play a role in neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia (Kirov, et al., 2009), autism (Glessner, et al., 2009), nicotine dependence (Nussbaum, et al., 2008), and with cognition (Need, et al., 2009). In our gene-based test the NRXN1 gene had a p-value of .01 (ranked 441). In the top 50 for Harm Avoidance in females, a SNP located intronic to ROBO-2 was previously suggestively associated with schizophrenia (Potkin, et al., 2009) and a SNP intronic to MCTP1 was suggestively associated with bipolar disorder (Scott, et al., 2009). Further, a SNP close to GABRG3 found for Reward Dependence in females showed suggestive association with alcohol dependence before (Dick, et al., 2004).
