title: Dorsal prefrontal cortical serotonin 2A receptor binding indices are differentially related to individual scores on harm avoidance.
abstract: Although the serotonergic system has been implicated in healthy as well as in pathological emotional states, knowledge about its involvement in personality is limited. Earlier research on this topic suggests that post-synaptic 5-HT2A receptors could be involved in particular in frontal cortical areas. In drug-naïve healthy individuals, we examined the relationship between these 5-HT2A receptors and the temperament dimension harm avoidance (HA) using 123I-5-I-R91150 single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). HA is a personality feature closely related to stress, anxiety and depression proneness, and it is thought to be mediated by the serotonergic system. We focused on the prefrontal cortices as these regions are frequently implicated in cognitive processes related to a variety of affective disorders. We found a positive relationship between dorsal prefrontal cortical (DPFC) 5-HT2A receptor binding indices (BI) and individual HA scores. Further, our results suggest that those individuals with a tendency to worry or to ruminate are particularly prone to display significantly higher 5-HT2A receptor BI in the left DPFC. Although we only examined psychologically healthy individuals, this relationship suggests a possible vulnerability for affective disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology, Ghent University, De Pintelaan 185, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital UZBrussel, Brussels, Belgium; Ghent Experimental Psychiatry (GHEP) Lab, Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: cbaeken@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Baeken
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital UZBrussel, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bossuyt
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Rudi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: De Raedt
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D040261:Harm Reduction / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000378:metabolism*; D010880:Piperidines; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D044402:Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2A / Q000378:metabolism*; D013694:Temperament / Q000502:physiology*; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: C504893:5-iodo-R 91150; D010880:Piperidines; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D044402:Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2A
keywords: 5-HT(2A) receptor; Dorsal prefrontal cortex; Harm avoidance; SPECT