Critical examination of a correlation between brain gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) concentrations and a personality trait of extroversion in healthy volunteers as measured by a 3 Tesla proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy study.
We hypothesized that brain gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) levels are associated with neuroticism, a trait associated with depression and anxiety disorders. We examined the correlation between brain GABA concentrations and the five factors included in the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) in healthy volunteers using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) at 3 T. Forty-one healthy subjects (21 males, 20 females; age: 35+/-7 years) were enrolled in this study. Each subject underwent a 3T 1H-MRS study with a MEGA-PRESS sequence. Spectroscopy voxels (3 cm x 3 cm x 3 cm) were placed in the frontal lobe and the parieto-occipital lobe. A negative correlation was found between the GABA/creatine ratios in the frontal lobe and scores of extroversion on the NEO-FFI. These results suggest that GABAergic neurons are related to personality traits of healthy subjects.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Medicine,1-1 Iseigaoka, Yahatanishi-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka 8078555, Japan.
Naoki
N
Goto
Reiji
R
Yoshimura
Junji
J
Moriya
Shingo
S
Kakeda
Kenji
K
Hayashi
Nobuhisa
N
Ueda
Atsuko
A
Ikenouchi-Sugita
Wakako
W
Umene-Nakano
Norihiro
N
Oonari
Yukunori
Y
Korogi
Jun
J
Nakamura
D000328:Adult; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism*; D003401:Creatine / Q000378:metabolism; D005120:Extraversion, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011522:Protons; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000378:metabolism*
D011522:Protons; D001224:Aspartic Acid; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid; C000179:N-acetylaspartate; D003401:Creatine