Dopamine D2 receptors in the insular cortex and the personality trait of novelty seeking

Human personality has been considered to have a neurochemical. background. We examined the relation between extrastriatal dopamine D2 receptor binding in living human brain and the personality trait of novelty seeking that ha s been proposed to be related to dopaminergic function in the brain. We mea sured extrastriatal dopamine D2 receptors of 24 healthy young male subjects using [C-11]FLB 457 positron emission tomography. The personality trait of each subject was assessed by the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) . Correlation of dopamine D2 receptor binding with novelty seeking was calc ulated using region-of-interest analysis and statistical parametric mapping based on the binding potential images generated using a reference tissue m odel. A significant negative correlation was observed between binding poten tial values and the novelty seeking scores on TCI in the right insular cort ex. No significant correlation was observed in any other region. Our result indicates that there is a significant association between dopamine D2 rece ptor binding and the human novelty seeking trait in the right insular corte x. (C) 2001 Academic Press.