[Personality and frontal symptomatology in addicts and nonclinical population: toward a neuropsychology of personality].
OBJECTIVE
For many years now, Neuropsychology and the Psychology of Personality have developed in parallel, without any attempt to integrate the knowledge provided by the two disciplines. This paper sets out to analyze the relationship between the presence of symptoms in daily life related to the functioning of the brain's frontal lobes and individuals' personality patterns.


METHODS
The Dysexecutive Questionnaire (DEX-Sp), the Frontal System Behavior Scale (FrSBe- Sp) and the Inventory of Temperament and Character Revised (TCI-R) were administered to 421 non-clinical participants and 246 individuals in treatment for substance abuse or dependence.


RESULTS
Significant correlations were found between symptoms for all frontal syndromes (mesial, dorsolateral and orbital) and some personality traits (novelty seeking, harm avoidance and self-directedness), even more than 50% of the variance being predicted.


CONCLUSIONS
Results suggest that frontal performance should be seen as a continuous dimensional variable, ranging from optimal to non-adaptive performance, without a neat cut-off point. Addiction would be related to an increase in frontal symptoms, both mesial (apathy) and orbital (disinhibition), as well as dorsolateral (dysexecutive syndrome), and this would result in changes in the previous personality pattern. These data seriously question the supposed genetic basis of temperamental traits, and suggest hypotheses of great relevance for clinicians.
Ruiz Sanchez de León
José M
JM
Centro de Prevención del Deterioro Cognitivo, Madrid, Spain.
Pedrero Pérez
Eduardo J
EJ
Olivar Arroyo
Alvaro
A
Llanero Luque
Marcos
M
Rojo Mota
Gloria
G
Puerta García
Carmen
C
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009484:Neuropsychology; D010551:Personality; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult