We asked if sensation-seeking is linked to premorbid personality characteristics in patients with addictive disorders, or the characteristics follow the sensation-seeking activity. We interpreted the former as a state associated with normal rates of dopamine synthesis, and the latter as a trait of individuals with abnormally high rates of synthesis. We previously determined dopaminergic receptor density in striatum, and we now tested the hypothesis that an elevated dopaminergic condition with increased extracellular dopamine and receptor density follows increased dopamine synthesis capacity in highly sensation-seeking individuals, as measured by positron emission tomography of 18 men with tracer fluorodopa (FDOPA). We detected a site in left caudate nucleus where the volume of distribution of FDOPA-derived metabolites correlated negatively with FDOPA metabolite turnover, consistent with decreased metabolite breakdown in highly sensation-seeking subjects. High rates of sensation-seeking attenuated the dopamine turnover in association with a low rate of dopamine recycling, low dopamine oxidation, and elevated extracellular dopamine and receptors in caudate nucleus. In contrast, low rates of sensation-seeking were associated with rapid dopamine recycling, rapid dopamine oxidation, low extracellular dopamine, and low receptor density. We conclude that the modulation of dopaminergic neurotransmission associated with sensation-seeking is a state of sensation-seeking, rather than a trait of personality following abnormal regulation of dopaminergic neurotransmission.

我们询问感觉寻求是否与成瘾性疾病患者的病前人格特征有关，或者这些特征遵循寻求感觉的活动。我们将前者解释为与正常多巴胺合成速率相关的状态，而后者则解释为具有异常高合成速率的个体的特征。我们之前确定了纹状体中的多巴胺能受体密度，现在我们检验了这样一个假设，即随着 18 名带有示踪剂的男性的正电子发射断层扫描测量，在高度寻求感觉的个体中，随着细胞外多巴胺和受体密度增加的多巴胺能状态升高，多巴胺合成能力增加。氟多巴（FDOPA）。我们在左尾状核中检测到一个位点，其中 FDOPA 衍生代谢物的分布体积与 FDOPA 代谢物周转呈负相关，这与高度寻求感觉的受试者的代谢物分解减少一致。高频率的感觉寻求减弱了多巴胺的周转率，这与多巴胺循环率低、多巴胺氧化率低以及尾状核细胞外多巴胺和受体升高有关。相比之下，低感觉寻求率与快速多巴胺循环、快速多巴胺氧化、低细胞外多巴胺和低受体密度有关。我们得出结论，与感觉寻求相关的多巴胺能神经传递的调节是一种感觉寻求状态，