Extraversion and striatal dopaminergic receptor availability in young adults

Abstract

Extraversion is a core personality trait associated with individual differences in reward sensitivity and has been linked to the dopaminergic brain system. We investigated whether dopaminergic receptor availability in the striatum was directly associated with individual differences in extraversion using the high-affinity radiotracer [¹⁸F]fallypride and PET. Seventeen healthy male and female participants completed an [¹⁸F]fallypride PET scan at rest. Extraversion was assessed using the revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. Dopamine receptor availability in predefined striatal regions of interest was assessed as [¹⁸F]fallypride binding potential using a reference tissue model for [¹⁸F]fallypride. Both region of interest and voxel-based whole-brain analyses showed that extraversion was significantly correlated with dopaminergic receptor availability in the striatum bilaterally. This finding contributes to our understanding of the dopaminergic neural mechanisms underlying individual differences in extraversion.