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Personality and Basic Motivational systems: BAS & Rewards

Q: What is the current idea regarding the view of dopamine?

Mesolimbic dopamine as 'wanting' not 'liking' ---> 'wanting' mediated by nucleus accumbens dopamine ---> 'liking' mediated by nucleus accumbens opoids (addictive drugs can damage both these systems) i.e. distinction between wanting and liking

6 important questions on Personality and Basic Motivational systems: BAS & Rewards

What is the current idea regarding the view of dopamine?

Mesolimbic dopamine as 'wanting' not 'liking'

---> "wanting" mediated by nucleus accumbens dopamine
---> "liking" mediated by nucleus accumbens opoids
(addictive drugs can damage both these systems)

i.e. distinction between wanting and liking

What can be summarised regarding dopamine?

Dopamine release in the ventral striatum supports normal appetitive and consummatory behaviours

High levels of dopamine release may correspond to the subjective sensation of wanting rather than liking

(be careful, as this is generalised and non specific)

Maybe to specialise ask:
Where in the brain the dopamine is being released?
Is the release is tonic or pulsatile?
What other neurotransmitters may mediate wanting?

What experiment shows that neural responses to reward correlate with their answers on the SPSRQ questionnaire?

Task: Monetary Incentive Delay task (for positive reward) - 20 participants
3 kinds of cue - one signals small rewards (5 euro cents), another large reward (1 Euro), and another no reward. Participants have to press button quickly to try to receive reward.
Subjects also complete the Torrubia et al's (2001) SPSRQ

Results: correlation between Euro activity (how quickly participants press button to receive reward) and the questionnaire answers
---> read Hahn et al, 2009 - 'Neural Response to reward anticipation is modulated by Gray's impulsivity' (see lecture slides for full details)

What experiment shows that scores on the extraversion questionnaire correlate with neural response to reward?

Cohen, Young et al, 2005 - 'Individual differences in extraversion and dopamine genetics predict neural reward responses' (see lecture slides for full details)

Evident in Orbitofrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens (and amygdala)

- they also found that the A1 allele of DA receptor blunts the reward response (see seminar 1 - you printed off the paper)

What experiment shows that the size of your orbitofrontal cortex relates to how extravert you are?

Young et al, 'Testing Predictions from Personality Neuroscience: Brain Structure and the Big Five' - see lecture slides for full details of paper

= found that the bigger your medial OFX, the more extravert you are

What can be summarised regarding reward related personality and the brain?

Scores on personality measures (BAS & Extraversion) are positively correlated with:
1. activity in reward-related brain regions (Nucleus Accumbens, OFX)
2. size of reward-related regions (OFX)