Dopamine D2/D3 receptor binding in the anterior cingulate cortex and executive functioning

Lumme, Ville; Aalto, Sargo; Ilonen, Tuula; Någren, Kjell; Hietala, Jarmo

doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2006.12.012

« Previous Next »Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging
Volume 156, Issue 1 , Pages 69-74, 15 October 2007

Dopamine D₂/D₃ receptor binding in the anterior cingulate cortex and executive functioning☆

Ville Lumme
- Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, c/o Turku University Central Hospital, PO Box 52, FIN-20521 Turku, Finland
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Turku, FIN-20520, Turku, Finland
Sargo Aalto
- Department of Psychology, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland
- Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, c/o Turku University Central Hospital, PO Box 52, FIN-20521 Turku, Finland
Tuula Ilonen
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Turku, FIN-20520, Turku, Finland
Kjell Någren
- Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, c/o Turku University Central Hospital, PO Box 52, FIN-20521 Turku, Finland
Jarmo Hietala
- Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, c/o Turku University Central Hospital, PO Box 52, FIN-20521 Turku, Finland
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Turku, FIN-20520, Turku, Finland
- Corresponding author. Department of Psychiatry, University of Turku, Kunnallissairaalantie 20, Building 9, FIN-20700 Turku, Finland. Tel.: +358 2 269 2520; fax: +358 2 269 2528.

Received 3 July 2006; received in revised form 22 December 2006; accepted 26 December 2006.

Abstract

The objective was to investigate the association between extrastriatal dopamine D₂/D₃ receptor binding and performance on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), a measure of executive functioning. Thirty-two healthy volunteers performed the WCST and underwent positron emission tomography and a high-affinity D₂/D₃ receptor tracer, [¹¹C]FLB 457. All WCST error parameters, in particular nonperseverative errors, correlated positively with [¹¹C]FLB 457 binding in the cognitive division of the right anterior cingulate cortex. An independent voxel-based receptor parametric mapping analysis confirmed these findings. The results indicate that executive functioning in healthy volunteers is modulated by D₂/D₃ receptors in the anterior cingulate cortex.

Keywords: Dopamine, D₂ receptor, PET, Anterior cingulate, Executive function, WCST