Relation among dopamine D-2 receptor binding, obesity and personality in normal human subjects

Personality is a behavioral pattern, which differs among individuals. Krets chmer (Kretschmer, E., Physique and Character: an investigation of the Natu re of Constitution and the Theory of Temperament, New York, 1921) categoriz ed personality variants according to the concept of fundamental body types. Recently, several lines of evidence suggest that the central dopamine syst em may underlie the regulation of weight and the personality trait. In this study, we examined the dopamine Dq receptor (D2R) binding using positron e mission tomography with [C-11]FLB 457 [(s)-N-[(1-ethyl-2-pyrrolidinyl) meth yl]-5-bromo-2,3-dimethyloxybenzamide] together with body mass index (BMI) a nd personality trait on the temperament and character inventory (TCI) in 16 normal subjects. Our data demonstrate that there was a significant relatio n among D2R binding in the amygdala, BMI and personality trait of harm avoi dance. It can be assumed that variation of dopaminergic activity in the amy gdala underlies the personality variants related to the concept of fundamen tal body type. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.