攻击人格特质影响颞肌活动第二外感受抑制的研究

目的探讨攻击人格特质对颞肌活动外感受抑制的影响。方法对65名高、低攻击倾向个体(以临 床估计)先检测颞肌外感受抑制,后行Zuckerman—Kuhlman人格量表(ZKPQ)、感觉寻求量表(SSS)、Plutchik-van Pragg抑郁量表(PVP)测试,最后选取符合研究分析要求的49人(高攻击22名,低攻击27名)实验数据进行统计分 析。结果高攻击组颞肌第二外感受抑制持续时间明显低于低攻击组。高攻击组ZKPQ的冲动感觉寻求、神经质 -焦虑和攻击-敌意3分量表得分、PVP总分明显高于低攻击组。2组所有人格特质或抑郁倾向与外感受抑制潜 伏期或持续时间均无相关关系。结论有限的神经生理学研究分析显示,高攻击人格特质个体可能存在脑干功能 紊乱。     

Sensation seeking and its relationship with psychopathic traits,impulsivity and aggression: a validation of the Dutch Brief Sensation Seeking Scale (BSSS)

Sensation seeking is a personality trait that manifests as a preference for change, variety and novelty. Sensation seeking has been positively associated with different externalising behaviours. However, its associations with psychopathic traits, impulsivity and aggression are unclear. These associations were examined via the psychometric properties of the Dutch version of the Brief Sensation Seeking Scale (BSSS) using individuals from the general population and forensic patients. The results show that the BSSS has good psychometric properties, including test-retest reliability and a four-factor structure. Additionally, the results support associations between sensation seeking and psychopathic traits, impulsivity and total scores of aggression but revealed no specific associations with different types of aggression (e.g. proactive and reactive). The Dutch BSSS is a valuable tool for assessing sensation seeking in both the general population and forensic patients. Future research should further examine its utility and explore the role of sensation seeking in antisocial conduct.     

Platelet alpha 2-adrenergic receptor binding to 3H-yohimbine and personality variations in normals

The authors examined platelet alpha 2-adrenergic receptor binding to 3H-yohimbine and several personality variables in 58 adult males in a campus community. Subjects with high receptor Bmax levels exhibited personality traits of less social inhibition and more sensation seeking and thrill seeking behavior, were more playful and autonomous, and came from healthier, more intact families. The results also suggested that high affinity states of platelet alpha 2-adrenergic receptors (low Kd) correlate with traits suggestive of stability, i.e., Autonomy, Dominance, Nurturance, Order, Succorance, and General Sensation Seeking Scale of Zuckerman, while low affinity states (high Kd) of platelet alpha 2-receptors correlate with psychopathological traits of Dependence, Exhibitionism, and Paranoia.     

Personality traits and platelet MAO activity in alcohol and drug abusing teenage boys

The aim of this study has been to investigate whether teenage boys with mixed drug abuse differ from those with pure alcohol abuse as concerns personality traits and platelet monoamine oxidase activity. The series included 1129 consecutive 18-year-old males called to the Enlistment Center in the northern part of Sweden. A special inventory was constructed based on Zuckerman Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS), Eysenck's Personality Inventory (EPI), the Karolinska Scales of Personality (KSP) and questions about alcohol and drug consumption. The subjects with mixed drug abuse (n = 96) had high scores in the two subscales of SSS and KSP related to ability to stand boredom, high scores in both subscales of EPI and KSP related to impulsivity, high scores in Thrill and Adventure Seeking (TAS) and Experience Seeking (ES) of SSS as well as low platelet monoamine oxidase activity. The males with pure alcohol abuse (n = 33) also showed signs of monotony avoidance and impulsivity, but this type of abuse was not clearly related to low platelet monoamine oxidase activity and not to the aspects of curiosity included in the SSS such as TAS and ES. These findings are consistent with the picture earlier found as concerns "Type II" alcoholism which has an early onset, is genetically transmitted, is associated with mixed drug abuse and social complications.     

Bipolar sensation seeking is associated with a propensity to abuse rather than to temperamental characteristics.

OBJECTIVE: As some temperament profiles may be markers of genetic vulnerability traits, we aimed to compare sensation seeking in euthymic bipolar patients and in controls. METHODS: One hundred ninety-four patients fulfilling DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for bipolar disorders (BP), 81% of whom presented type I BP, and 95 controls were included in this study. Euthymia was assessed using both the MADRS and Bech mania scales. Subjects were evaluated using the French abbreviated form of Zuckerman's Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS), which provide a total score (TS) and four subscores: Thrill and Adventure Seeking (TAS), Experience Seeking (ES), Disinhibition (Dis), and Boredom Susceptibility (BS). RESULTS: SSS total score differed significantly between men (17.2 +/- 0.5) and women (15.3 +/- 0.6) (P = 0.02) and all the subscores were negatively correlated with age. On adjustment for sex and age, we found that bipolar patients had a high Dis score (P = 0.003). However, if the same analysis was performed with a lifetime history of alcohol abuse or dependence as a covariable, no such difference was found (P = 0.436). The SSS demonstrated a high degree of test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.91). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that sensation seeking assessed with the SSS is not a temperament characteristic associated with bipolar disorders but is instead linked to a tendency towards alcohol abuse.     

Personality Characteristics of Male Sufferers of Chronic Tension-Type and Cervicogenic Headache

Background and Purpose

Chronic tension-type headache (a primary headache disorder) and cervicogenic headache (a secondary headache disorder that is attributable to upper cervical spine pathology) share similar clinical manifestations, but their associated personality traits may differ. We evaluated the personality differences between sufferers of chronic tension-type headache and cervicogenic headache.

Methods

We administered the Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire (ZKPQ) and the Zuckerman Sensation-Seeking Scale (SSS) to 18 patients suffering from chronic tension-type headache, 19 suffering from cervicogenic headache, and 26 healthy volunteers. Depressive trends were measured with the Plutchik-van-Praag Depression Inventory (PVP).

Results

Compared to healthy controls, the chronic tension-type headache group scored significantly higher on ZKPQ Neuroticism-Anxiety and on the PVP, while the cervicogenic headache group scored significantly lower on SSS Thrill and Adventure Seeking. In addition, the total SSS score was significantly lower in the cervicogenic headache group than in both the chronic tension-type headache group and the healthy controls.

Conclusions

The results of this study indicate that higher scores for neuroticism-anxiety and depression were associated with chronic tension-type headache, while lower sensation-seeking scores were associated with cervicogenic headache.     

High trait aggression in men is associated with low 5-HT levels,as indexed by 5-HT4 receptor binding

Impulsive aggression has commonly been associated with a dysfunction of the serotonin (5-HT) system: many, but not all, studies point to an inverse relationship between 5-HT and aggression. As cerebral 5-HT₄ receptor (5-HT₄R) binding has recently been recognized as a proxy for stable brain levels of 5-HT, we here test the hypothesis in healthy men and women that brain 5-HT levels, as indexed by cerebral 5-HT₄R, are inversely correlated with trait aggression and impulsivity. Sixty-one individuals (47 men) underwent positron emission tomography scanning with the radioligand [¹¹C]SB207145 for quantification of brain 5-HT₄R binding. The Buss–Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ) and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale were used for assessment of trait aggression and trait impulsivity. Among male subjects, there was a positive correlation between global 5-HT₄R and BPAQ total score (P = 0.037) as well as BPAQ physical aggression (P = 0.025). No main effect of global 5-HT₄R on trait aggression or impulsivity was found in the mixed gender sample, but there was evidence for sex interaction effects in the relationship between global 5-HT₄R and BPAQ physical aggression. In conclusion we found that low cerebral 5-HT levels, as indexed by 5-HT₄R binding were associated with high trait aggression in males, but not in females.     

Personality correlates of reporting Chinese words from the Deutsch "high-low" word illusion by Chinese-speaking people

Objective When English-speaking people listen to the Deutsch "high-low" word illusion, they report hearing English words. Whether Chinese-speaking people report Chinese words when listening to the illusion, or whether any reported words might be correlated with personality traits as previous investigations have demonstrated for listening to music in other cultures, is open to question. The present study aimed to address this. Methods A total of 308 right-handed, healthy volunteers (177 women and 131 men) were given the illusion test and asked to answer the Zuckerman-Kuhlman personality questionnaire (ZKPQ). Their depressive tendency was measured by the Plutchik-van Praag depression inventory (PVP). Results There was no gender effect regarding either the PVP score or the number of reported Chinese words from the illusion. Women scored higher on ZKPQ neuroticism-anxiety than men. The number of meaningful Chinese words reported was correlated with the ZKPQ impulsive sensation-seeking, aggression-hostility, and activity scores. Some words reported by participants who scored higher on these three traits were related in meaning to those scales. Conclusion Our preliminary results suggest that when Chinese-speaking people listen to the Deutsch "high-low" word illusion, they might use personality-related, specific cognitive schemata.     

Platelet monoamine oxidase activity in sensation seekers

Personality traits, as assessed by personality inventories, and platelet monoamine oxidase activities have been compared in the following two groups of normal subjects: (1) subjects who either have mountaineering as an active hobby or an interest in mountaineering and (2) subjects not interested in mountaineering. The group of subjects interested in mountaineering were found to be sensation seekers, as assessed by the Zuckerman Sensation Seeking Scale, and to have significantly lower platelet monoamine oxidase activities.     

Cerebral information processing in personality disorders: I. Intensity dependence of auditory evoked potentials

Patients with personality disorders such as the histrionic type exaggerate their responses when receiving external social or environmental stimuli. We speculated that they might also show an augmenting pattern of the auditory evoked potential N1-P2 component in response to stimuli with increasing levels of intensity, a response pattern that is thought to be inversely correlated with cerebral serotonin (5-HT) activity. To test this hypothesis, we collected auditory evoked potentials in 191 patients with personality disorders (19 patients with the paranoid type, 12 schizoid, 14 schizotypal, 18 antisocial, 15 borderline, 13 histrionic, 17 narcissistic, 25 avoidant, 30 dependent and 28 obsessive-compulsive) and 26 healthy volunteers. Their personality traits were measured using the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology-Basic Questionnaire (DAPP-BQ). Compared with healthy subjects and other patient groups, the histrionic group scored higher on the basic traits Affective Instability, Stimulus Seeking, Rejection and Narcissism, and on the higher traits Emotional Dysregulation and Dissocial, than the other groups, and the schizoid group scored lower on most of the DAPP-BQ basic and higher traits. In addition, the histrionic group showed steeper amplitude/stimulus intensity function (ASF) slopes at three midline scalp electrodes than the healthy controls or the other patient groups. The ASF slopes were not correlated with any DAPP-BQ traits in the total sample of 217 subjects. However, the DAPP-BQ basic trait Rejection was positively correlated with the ASF slopes at all three electrode sites in the histrionic group. The increased intensity dependence of the auditory N1-P2 component might indicate that cerebral 5-HT neuronal activity is, on average, weak in the histrionic patients.     

Simultaneous modulation of the exteroceptive suppression periods in the trapezius and temporalis muscles by experimental muscle pain.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the exteroceptive suppression (ES) periods in the trapezius and temporalis muscles could be simultaneously modulated by either experimental trapezius muscle pain or temporalis muscle pain. METHODS: Fourteen healthy volunteers participated in two sessions with randomised injections of either hypertonic or isotonic saline into the right trapezius muscle or right temporalis muscle. The pain intensity was continuously scored on a 10 cm electronic visual analogue scale. During muscle contraction, the early (ES1) and late (ES2) reflex in the temporalis and late (ES2) reflex in the trapezius elicited by electrical stimulation of the right infraorbital nerve were recorded pre-, during-, and post-injection. RESULTS: Hypertonic saline injection induced local muscle pain and referred pain with the maximal pain intensity of 6.3+/-0.5 cm in the right trapezius and 6.7+/-0.6 cm in the right temporalis muscles. Injection of either hypertonic or isotonic saline into the right trapezius muscle was associated with significantly shortened ES2 duration and offset time in the injected right trapezius muscle. Only injection of hypertonic saline into the right trapezius muscle could significantly reduce the ES2 offset time and decrease the degree of suppression of ES2 in the right temporalis and left trapezius muscles. Injection of either hypertonic or isotonic saline into the right trapezius muscle evoked no changes in ES2 parameters in the left temporalis muscle. Injection of hypertonic saline, but not isotonic saline, into the right temporalis muscle caused a significantly shorter ES2 offset time and shorter ES2 duration bilaterally in the temporalis and trapezius muscles. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of the present study provide evidence for a bi-directional effects reflecting convergence of muscle afferents from the trigeminal and upper cervical neural systems in humans, which may partly underlie the manifestations of pain referral between these two areas.     

Mismatch negativity and personality traits in chronic primary insomniacs

The thalamo-(fronto)cortical circuit is involved in sleep regulation, and its dysfunction might contribute to the pathophysiology of chronic primary insomnia. To obtain more evidence of the involvement of the circuit, we studied 23 patients with chronic primary insomnia and 28 healthy volunteers via the assessment of mismatch negativity (MMN) elicited by tone intensity deviance, and of personality traits measured by Zuckerman's Sensation Seeking Scales, and Zuckerman-Kuhlman's Personality Questionnaire. In insomniacs, MMN amplitude at Fz was significantly larger; Depression, which was measured by Plutchik-van Praag's Depression Inventory, and Neuroticism-anxiety and Impulsivity scores were higher, while the Thrill and adventure seeking score was lower; MMN amplitude was positively correlated with Depression and with Impulsivity. In healthy subjects, MMN amplitude at Fz was positively correlated with Neuroticism-anxiety, but negatively with Experience seeking. The larger MMN and distinct personality traits suggest a hyperactivity in the thalamo-(fronto)cortical neuronal circuit in insomniacs, which is probably the result of weak thalamic gating mechanisms, or an imbalance of several neurotransmitter systems.     

Sensation Seeking, Traumaerleben und Bew?ltigungsstrategien: eine empirische Untersuchung an Einsatzkr?ften

This investigation deals with sensation seeking in rescue forces. We are interested in the scores regarding this variable and relationship between these and other relevant variables. Aim of this research is to find connections between sensation seeking and traumatic stress and what is the role of coping in this connections. All in all we are going to exam Sensation Seeking as a protective factor for traumatic stress.The subjects in this investigation are firefighters and emergency-medical-technicians. We use the German Sensation-Seeking-Scale version 5 (SSS-V) and the Arnett-Inventory-of-Sensation-Seeking (AISS-D) to assess sensation seeking. To explore the traumatic stress symptoms in subjects, we use the Posttraumatic-Stress-Diagnostic-Scale (PDS) and for the coping strategies the short version of Janke and Erdmanns Coping- Questionnaire (SVF-78).We found differences between the rescue forces and the control group in reference to subscales "thrill and adventure seeking" (TAS) and "experience seeking" (ES) as well as no connections between the sensation seeking scales and subscales and traumatic stress symptoms. We found only a significance by trend correlation concerning experience seeking and avoidance. Furthermore we found correlations between AISS-scales as well as the SSS-V-subscales and coping strategies. Partial correlation showed very low coefficients regarding Experience Seeking and Avoidance if we insert coping strategies as a control variable.When we look at the reliability of the questionnaires to assess sensation seeking, we find out that values are very low. Therefore we have to keep in mind that the assessment of Sensation Seeking is defective through an error in measurement and to interpret results carefully. Nonetheless we found that rescue forces search more actively thrills and adventures and the control group more sensual and spiritual stimuli in our sample. We can't prove that sensation seeking is a personality trait which is able to protect form traumatic stress symptoms. However we found evidence that sensation seeking is associated with coping strategies which diminish successfully stress.     

Addiction and personality traits: sensation seeking, anhedonia, impulsivity

This study presents the evaluation of three dimensional traits of personality (Sensation Seeking, Anhedonia, Impulsivity) among 65 patients admitted in a psychiatric ward, with or without addictive behaviors. Our objective is to establish that these personality traits are commun to all addictive behaviors and to test the hypothesis that high scores on the three scales are linked to a greater probability of presenting with addictive behaviors. The two most frequent types of addiction were alcoholism and drug abuse. The subjects presenting with one or several addictive behaviors had higher average scores on the three scales. Our results printed in the same direction for the subjects having shown an addictive behavior in their past history. The risk to present with an addictive behavior increased with the total scores of these self-report questionnaires. There was a significant relationship between 3 sub-dimensions on the Sensation Seeking Scale and addictive behavior. Each time sub-scores of boredom susceptibility, disinhibition and thrill and adventure rise by one, the risk to present with an addictive behavior is multiplied by 1.4 for the first two and by 1.3 for the third one. Subjects with high scores on the anhedonia and impulsivity scales respectively show a risk multiplied by 1.6 and 3.3 of developing an addictive behavior. These results of this transverse study confirm the link between addiction behavior and these three personality traits.     

Neuroendocrine responses to fenfluramine and its relationship to personality in alcoholism

Summary. This study investigates the relationship between personality and serotonergic reactivity in alcohol dependence. Personality characteristics were assessed according to the Temperament and Character model of Cloninger, the five-factor model of McCrae and Costa, Zuckerman's Sensation Seeking as well as Eysenck's impulsiveness/venturesomeness. Placebo-controlled prolactin response to the serotonin (5-HT) reuptake inhibitor/releaser fenfluramine served as an indicator for the reactivity of serotonergic neurotransmission. Forty abstinent alcohol-dependent men were subdivided into high and low prolactin responders according to their level of neuroendocrine response. High responders were characterized by decreased harm avoidance while their extraversion and venturesomeness scores were increased in comparison to low responders. The data demonstrates that harm avoidance on the one hand and extraversion/venturesomeness on the other are inversely correlated to serotonergic neurotransmission. These results support a specific relationship between personality traits and the serotonergic system. Received March 20, 2001; accepted May 22, 2001     

Impulsive traits and 5-HT2A receptor promoter polymorphism in alcohol dependents: possible association but no influence of personality disorders

OBJECTIVE: Impulsive behavior in alcoholics puts them at serious risk of severer course of disease and has been related to the serotonergic neurotransmission dysfunction. The aim of this study is to investigate the association between impulsive aggression in alcohol dependents with regard to the G-1438A polymorphism in the promoter region of the 5-HT2A receptor gene. Furthermore, we investigated the statistical interaction between 5-HT2A alleles, antisocial personality disorder (APD) and impulsive aggression in alcohol dependents. Alcohol dependents were investigated because these personality disorders and impulsive behavior are very frequent in alcohol dependence anf of clinical relevance. METHODS: One hundred and thirty-five patients of German descent meeting DSM-IV criteria of alcohol dependence were recruited. Blood samples were taken from alcohol dependents to determine 5-HT2A promoter polymorphisms using PCR (polymerase chain reaction) of lymphocyte DNA. Impulsive aggression was assessed using a German version of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale which was translated and backtranslated. Alcohol dependents were subdivided into low- or high-impulsivity groups using a median split of the Barratt score. APD and borderline personality disorder (BPD) were assessed using the SCID-II interview. RESULTS: The low-impulsivity group was slightly older and showed a later age at alcoholism onset than the highly impulsive group. Alcohol dependents with high impulsive traits showed a significant association with 5-HT2A 1438 A alleles. After excluding alcohol dependents with APD or BPD from the analysis, this association remained significant. Furthermore, no association between APD, BPD and 5-HT2A alleles was noted. CONCLUSIONS: Inpatient alcohol dependents showed a significant association between 5-HT2A A alleles and impulsive traits, independent of the presence of APD or BPD. No association was noted between personality disorders and the polymorphism. This is the first report about an association of 5-HT2A promoter polymorphism and impulsive behavior in alcohol dependents. This finding may refer only to impulsive traits and may be independent of personality disorders in this sample. These results have to be confirmed in larger samples and in healthy control subjects to determine whether this association is of general validity.     

Exteroceptive suppression of the masseter and temporalis muscles produced by electrical stimulation of the mental nerve in patients with Parkinson''s disease

Exteroceptive suppression of the masseter and temporalis muscles, produced by electrical stimulation of the mental nerve, was studied in 23 cases of Parkinson's disease (PD) and 20 age-matched control subjects. Two components were usually observed: early (ES1) and late (ES2). ES2 was estimated in this study. The background electromyographic activity prior to the stimulation showed no difference between normal subjects and patients with PD. The latency of suppression in patients with PD was not different from that in normal subjects. The duration and the degree of suppression were lower in patients with PD when compared with the normal subjects. The reduction of exteroceptive suppression might, at least in part, play a role in the failure of motor control of the face in PD.     

A pharmacological evidence of positive association between mouse intermale aggression and brain serotonin metabolism

The neurotransmitter serotonin (5-HT) is involved in the regulation of mouse intermale aggression. Previously, it was shown that intensity of mouse intermale aggression was positively associated with activity of the key enzyme of 5-HT synthesis - tryptophan hydroxylase 2 (TPH2) in mouse brain. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of pharmacological activation or inhibition of 5-HT synthesis in the brain on intermale aggression in two mouse strains differing in the TPH2 activity: C57BL/6J (B6, high TPH2 activity, high aggressiveness) and CC57BR/Mv (BR, low TPH2 activity, low aggressiveness). Administration of 5-HT precursor L-tryptophan (300 mg/kg, i.p.) to BR mice significantly increased the 5-HT and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) levels in the midbrain as well as the number of attacks and their duration in the resident-intruder test. And vice versa, administration of TPH2 inhibitor p-chlorophenylalanine (pCPA) (300 mg/kg, i.p., for 3 consecutive days) to B6 mice dramatically reduced the 5-HT and 5-HIAA contents in brain structures and attenuated the frequency and the duration of aggressive attacks. At the same time, L-tryptophan or pCPA did not influence the percentage of aggressive mice and the attack latency reflecting the threshold of aggressive reaction. This result indicated that the intensity of intermale aggression, but not the threshold of aggressive reaction is positively dependent on 5-HT metabolism in mouse brain.     

Atypical sensory processing in adolescents with an autism spectrum disorder and their non-affected siblings

Atypical sensory processing is common in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Specific profiles have been proposed in different age groups, but no study has focused specifically on adolescents. Identifying traits of ASD that are shared by individuals with ASD and their non-affected family members can shed light on the genetic underpinnings of ASD. Eighty adolescents with ASD (64 boys, 16 girls), 56 non-affected adolescent siblings (21 boys, 35 girls) and 33 adolescent controls (18 boys, 15 girls) filled out the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile, a self-report questionnaire resulting in four sensory quadrants according to Dunn's model of sensory processing. Adolescents with ASD differed significantly from controls on the quadrants Sensation Seeking and Sensation Avoidance. On quadrant 2 (Sensation Seeking) siblings scored significantly lower than controls and significantly higher than ASD. These results confirm the presence of atypical sensory processing in adolescents with ASD. We argue that reduced Sensation Seeking might be a candidate for an intermediate phenotype.     

Hostility-aggressiveness, sensation seeking, and sex hormones in men: re-exploring their relationship

To evaluate the relationship between sex hormones and aggressiveness, hostility and sensation seeking we studied 30 healthy males. Using a standardised technique of radioimmunoassay, we obtained blood values of luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), 17beta-estradiol (E(2)), total testosterone (TT), sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) and the free androgen index (FAI). Personality was evaluated by the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory and the Sensation-Seeking Scale, form V. The results showed a lack of significant correlations between the measures of aggressiveness-hostility and hormones. Nevertheless, Spearman and Pearson correlations between Sensation Seeking and testosterone were positive and significant after controlling for age. Considerably higher correlations were obtained after controlling for LH and SHBG. A group of subjects with high scores in a factor made up of Experience Seeking, Disinhibition and Boredom Susceptibility obtained significantly higher scores on TT and FAI. Subjects with high scores in a factor made up of Assault, Indirect Aggression and Verbal Aggression obtained significantly higher scores in SHBG and TT. These findings support Zuckerman's personality model for the sensation-seeking trait.