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Net influx of plasma 6‐[ 18 F]fluoro‐ l ‐DOPA (FDOPA) to the ventral striatum correlates with prefrontal processing of affective stimuli
Author(s) -
Siessmeier Thomas,
Kienast Thorsten,
Wrase Jana,
Larsen Jennifer Lynne,
Braus Dieter F.,
Smolka Michael N.,
Buchholz Hans Georg,
Schreckenberger Mathias,
Rösch Frank,
Cumming Paul,
Mann Karl,
Bartenstein Peter,
Heinz Andreas
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
european journal of neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.346
H-Index - 206
eISSN - 1460-9568
pISSN - 0953-816X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2006.04903.x
Subject(s) - ventral striatum , striatum , neuroscience , psychology , dopamine , dopaminergic , prefrontal cortex , functional magnetic resonance imaging , dorsolateral prefrontal cortex , anterior cingulate cortex , cognition
Dopaminergic neurotransmission in the ventral and dorsal striatum interact with central processing of rewarding and reward‐indicating stimuli, and may affect frontocortical–striatal–thalamic circuits regulating goal‐directed behaviour. Thirteen healthy male volunteers were investigated with multimodal imaging, using the radioligand 6‐[ 18 F]fluoro‐ l ‐DOPA (FDOPA) for positron emission tomography (PET) measurements of dopamine synthesis capacity, and also functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in a cognitive activation paradigm. We calculated the correlation between FDOPA net blood–brain influx (; ml/g/min) in the ventral and associative dorsal striatum and BOLD signal changes elicited by standardized affectively positive, negative and neutral visual stimuli. The magnitude of in the ventral striatum was positively correlated with BOLD signal increases in the left anterior cingulate cortex and right insular operculum elicited by positive vs. neutral stimuli, but not negative vs. neutral stimuli. In the dorsal striatum, the magnitude of was positively correlated with processing of positive and negative stimuli in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. These findings suggest that dopamine synthesis capacity in the ventral striatum correlates with the attentional processing of rewarding positive stimuli in the anterior cingulate cortex of healthy subjects. Dopaminergic neurotransmission in the associative dorsal striatum has been associated previously with habit learning. The observed correlation between dopamine synthesis capacity in the dorsal striatum and BOLD signal changes in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex suggests dopaminergic modulation of processing of emotional stimuli in brain areas associated with motor planning and executive behaviour control.