title: Dopamine activation in Neuroticism as measured by spontaneous eye blink rate.
abstract: Personality dimensions have been associated with different psychobiological systems. However, no agreement exists in literature on a specific role of a single neurotransmitter for each of the dimensions investigated. We studied the relationship of Neuroticism, Extraversion and Psychoticism as assessed by Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI) with spontaneous eye blink rate (BR), a non-invasive measure of central dopamine activity. A total of sixty-three healthy subjects (40 females, 23 males, mean age 24.2±3.9) were studied. Spontaneous blink rate and time of blink suppression were assessed by EOG measurement. Levels of Extraversion and Neuroticism were inversely correlated. In contrast with previous findings, a significant correlation between blink rate measures and Neuroticism was found. No significant correlation between blink measures and either Extraversion, or Psychoticism were found. The results appear consistent with a lower threshold for activation in neuroticism as suggested by Eysenck's original model.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Second University of Naples, Via Vivaldi 43, 81100 Caserta, Italy. Giuseppe.Barbato@unina2.it
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Barbato
authors.forename: Ciro
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Della Monica
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Costanzo
authors.forename: Vittoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: De Padova
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001767:Blinking / Q000502:physiology*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D004585:Electrooculography; D005120:Extraversion, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009497:Neurotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011287:Prejudice; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004298:Dopamine