title: Role of disgust proneness in Parkinson's disease: a voxel-based morphometry study.
abstract: The knowledge about personality traits in Parkinson's disease (PD) is still limited. In particular, disgust proneness has not been investigated as well as its neuronal correlates. Although several morphometric studies demonstrated that PD is associated with gray matter volume (GMV) reduction in olfactory and gustatory regions involved in disgust processing, a possible correlation with disgust proneness has not been investigated. We conducted a voxel-based morphometry analysis to compare GMV between 16 cognitively normal male PD patients with mild to moderate symptoms and 24 matched control subjects. All participants had answered questionnaires for the assessment of disgust proneness, trait anger and trait anxiety. We correlated questionnaire scores with GMV in both groups. The clinical group reported selectively reduced disgust proneness toward olfactory stimuli associated with spoilage. Moreover, they showed GMV reduction in the central olfactory system [orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and piriform cortex]. Disgust items referring to olfactory processing were positively correlated with OFC volume in PD patients. Our data suggest an association between PD-associated neurodegeneration and olfactory related facets of the personality trait disgust proneness.
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Psychology,Karl-Franzens University of Graz,Austria.
authors.forename: Rottraut
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ille
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Psychology,Karl-Franzens University of Graz,Austria.
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wabnegger
authors.affiliation: 3Department of Neurology,Medical University of Graz,Graz,Austria.
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schwingenschuh
authors.affiliation: 4BioTechMed Graz,Austria.
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Katschnig-Winter
authors.affiliation: 3Department of Neurology,Medical University of Graz,Graz,Austria.
authors.forename: Mariella
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kögl-Wallner
authors.affiliation: 4BioTechMed Graz,Austria.
authors.forename: Karoline
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wenzel
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Psychology,Karl-Franzens University of Graz,Austria.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schienle
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D010551:Personality; D012044:Regression Analysis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Affective traits; Olfactory system; Personality; Revulsion; Structural MRI; VBM