title: Schizotypy trait and striatal dopamine receptors in healthy volunteers.
abstract: Individuals with schizotypal features exhibit cognitive, perceptual and social deficits that are similar to but less prominent than those seen in patients with schizophrenia. Dopaminergic hyperactivity in the striatum has been related to the positive symptoms of schizophrenia, and brain-imaging studies of dopamine uptake in the striatum are thought to be linked to the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the increased availability of striatal dopamine (DA) D(2/3) receptors is related to elevated levels of schizotypal features in healthy individuals. The Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) was administered to 55 healthy volunteers. The availability of their striatal DA D(2/3) receptors was analysed using [(123)I] iodobenzamide single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Although the SPQ total scores showed no correlation with the availability of total (left and right) striatal DA D(2) receptors, the SPQ disorganised subscale scores were positively correlated with the availability of right striatal DA D(2/3) receptors. Our findings demonstrated that the availability of striatal DA D(2/3) receptors may be associated with schizotypal features in healthy volunteers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Kao Chin
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: I Hui
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Tzung Lieh
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Yeh
authors.forename: Nan Tsing
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.forename: Po See
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yen Kuang
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Ru-Band
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Chwen Cheng
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007462:Iodobenzenes; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011954:Receptors, Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D012569:Schizotypal Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D057566:Self Report; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D007462:Iodobenzenes; D011954:Receptors, Dopamine; C426805:idobenzamide