The brain structural disposition to social interaction

  1. Maël Lebreton1,2,3,
  2. Anna Barnes1,2,3,
  3. Jouko Miettunen4,
  4. Leena Peltonen5,6,
  5. Khanum Ridler1,7,
  6. Juha Veijola4,
  7. Päivikki Tanskanen8,
  8. John Suckling1,2,3,
  9. Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin9,10,
  10. Peter B. Jones3,
  11. Matti Isohanni4,
  12. Edward T. Bullmore1,2,3,
  13. Graham K. Murray1,2,3

Article first published online: 20 MAY 2009

DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2009.06782.x

Issue

European Journal of Neuroscience

European Journal of Neuroscience

Volume 29, Issue 11, pages 2247–2252, June 2009

Additional Information

How to Cite

Lebreton, M., Barnes, A., Miettunen, J., Peltonen, L., Ridler, K., Veijola, J., Tanskanen, P., Suckling, J., Jarvelin, M.-R., Jones, P. B., Isohanni, M., Bullmore, E. T. and Murray, G. K. (2009), The brain structural disposition to social interaction. European Journal of Neuroscience, 29: 2247–2252. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2009.06782.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    Brain Mapping Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

  2. 2

    Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

  3. 3

    Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

  4. 4

    Department of Psychiatry, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

  5. 5

    Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK

  6. 6

    Department of Medicinal Genetics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

  7. 7

    Clinical Imaging Centre, CPDM, GlaxoSmithKline, London, UK

  8. 8

    Department of Radiology, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

  9. 9

    Department of Public Health Science and General Practice, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

  10. 10

    Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK

*Dr G. K. Murray, Brain Mapping Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Box 189 Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge CB2 0QQ. E-mail: gm285@cam.ac.uk

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 1 JUN 2009
  2. Article first published online: 20 MAY 2009
  3. Received 6 August 2008, revised 14 April 2009, accepted 17 April 2009

SEARCH

SEARCH BY CITATION

ARTICLE TOOLS

View Full Article with Supporting Information (HTML) Get PDF (236K)

Keywords:

  • MRI;
  • personality;
  • reward dependence;
  • temperament;
  • ventral striatum

Abstract

Social reward dependence (RD) in humans is a stable pattern of attitudes and behaviour hypothesized to represent a favourable disposition towards social relationships and attachment as a personality dimension. It has been theorized that this long-term disposition to openness is linked to the capacity to process primary reward. Using brain structure measures from magnetic resonance imaging, and a measure of RD from Cloninger’s temperament and character inventory, a self-reported questionnaire, in 41 male subjects sampled from a general population birth cohort, we investigated the neuro-anatomical basis of social RD. We found that higher social RD in men was significantly associated with increased gray matter density in the orbitofrontal cortex, basal ganglia and temporal lobes, regions that have been previously shown to be involved in processing of primary rewards. These findings provide evidence for a brain structural disposition to social interaction, and that sensitivity to social reward shares a common neural basis with systems for processing primary reward information.

View Full Article with Supporting Information (HTML) Get PDF (236K)