title: Cognitive Psychophysiological Substrates of Affective Temperaments.
abstract: Affective temperaments are the subclinical manifestations or phenotypes of mood states and hypothetically represent one healthy end of the mood disorder spectrum. However, there is a scarcity of studies investigating the neurobiological basis of affective temperaments. One fundamental aspect of temperament is the behavioral reactivity to environmental stimuli, which can be effectively evaluated by use of cognitive event-related potentials (ERPs) reflecting the diversity of information processing. The aim of the present study is to explore the associations between P300 and the affective temperamental traits in healthy individuals. We recorded the P300 ERP waves using an auditory oddball paradigm in 50 medical student volunteers (23 females, 27 males). Participants' affective temperaments were evaluated using the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego-auto questionnaire version (TEMPS-A). In bivariate analyses, depressive temperament score was significantly correlated with P300 latency ( rs= 0.37, P < .01). In a multiple linear regression analysis, P300 latency showed a significant positive correlation with scores of depressive temperament (β = 0.40, P < .01) and a significant negative one with scores of cyclothymic temperament (β = -0.29, P = .03). Affective temperament scores were not associated with P300 amplitude and reaction times. These results indicate that affective temperaments are related to information processing in the brain. Depressive temperament may be characterized by decreased physiological arousal and slower information processing, while the opposite was observed for cyclothymic temperament.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Psychiatry, Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, University of Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Burç Çağrı
authors.initials: BÇ
authors.lastname: Poyraz
authors.affiliation: 2 Sivas Numune Hospital, Sivas, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ayşe
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sakallı Kani
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Psychiatry, Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, University of Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Cana
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Aksoy Poyraz
authors.affiliation: 3 Aksaray State Hospital, Aksaray, Turkey.
authors.forename: Tuba
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Öcek Baş
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Psychiatry, Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, University of Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mehmet Kemal
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Arıkan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D003071:Cognition; D003527:Cyclothymic Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D018913:Event-Related Potentials, P300 / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010551:Personality; D011930:Reaction Time; D013694:Temperament
keywords: arousal; cyclothymic temperament; depressive temperament; event-related potential; personality