Dopamine D2 Receptor Density and Personal Detachment in Healthy Subjects

• Published in: The American journal of psychiatry Vol. 155; no. 10; pp. 1440 - 1442
• Main Authors: Breier, Alan, Kestler, Lisa, Adler, Caleb, Elman, Igor, Wiesenfeld, Neil, Malhotra, Anil, Pickar, David
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Psychiatric Publishing 01.10.1998; American Psychiatric Association
• Subjects: Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Carbon Radioisotopes; Corpus Striatum - diagnostic imaging; Corpus Striatum - metabolism; Dopamine; Dopamine Antagonists; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Health Status; Humans; Male; Molecular biology; Personality; Personality - physiology; Personality Assessment - statistics & numerical data; Personality traits; Personality. Affectivity; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Raclopride; Receptor status; Receptors, Dopamine D2 - metabolism; Receptors, Dopamine D2 - physiology; Relationship; Salicylamides; Social attachment; Tomography, Emission-Computed; Radionuclide study; Human; Biological fixation; D2 Dopamine receptor; Central nervous system; Personality; Temperament; Brain (vertebrata); Emission tomography
• ISSN: 0002-953X; 1535-7228
• DOI: 10.1176/ajp.155.10.1440

Objective:The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the personality trait involving personal detachment and dopamine D2 receptor specific binding in healthy subjects.Method:Eighteen adult subjects completed the Karolinska Scales of Personality and the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire and participated in a study that used [11C]raclopride positron emission tomography (PET) to quantify striatal D2 receptor binding. Results:A significant relationship was found between D2 receptor specific binding and detachment scores on the Karolinska Scales of Personality but not between D2 receptor specific binding and attachment scores on the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire. In an exploratory analysis, the authors found a significant relationship between binding and the sentimentality cluster on the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire but on no other personality clusters scores on the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire or Karolinska Scales of Personality.Conclusions:These findings replicate those of a recent report that personal detachment scores on the Karolinska Scales of Personality are related to dopamine D2 receptor density and extends this finding by suggesting that the relationship is relatively specific to the trait defined by the Karolinska Scales of Personality and does not generalize to other forms of detachment. Am J Psychiatry 1998; 155: 1440-1442