PERSONALITY ASSOCIATIONS WITH THE UPTAKE OF THE CEREBRAL BLOOD-FLOW MARKER (99M)TC-EXAMETAZIME ESTIMATED WITH SINGLE-PHOTON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY

The associations between personality dimensions of the Eysenck Persona lity Questionnaire and individual differences in the regional uptake o f 99mTc-Exametazime in brain were studied in 51 healthy volunteers. Ex traversion was significantly correlated (r = 0.46, P < 0.001) with tra cer uptake in the anterior and posterior cingulate areas bilaterally, whereas no significant associations were found with neuroticism or psy choticism. The results are presented with reference to recent studies which have, on the one hand, interpreted extraversion differences in r elation to theories of attention and, on the other, demonstrated the r ole of the cingulate area as a possible neuronal substrate for attenti onal processing mechanisms.