Striatal dopamine D2/D3 receptor availability correlates with individual response characteristics to pain

We studied in healthy humans the contribution of cerebral dopamine D2/D3 receptors to individual differences in response characteristics to painful stimulation. Positron emission tomography was used to measure the dopamine D2/D3 binding potential (D2/D3 BP) with [11C]raclopride in the striatum (n = ...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The European journal of neuroscience 2004-09, Vol.20 (6), p.1587-1592
Main Authors: Pertovaara, Antti, Martikainen, Ilkka K., Hagelberg, Nora, Mansikka, Heikki, Någren, Kjell, Hietala, Jarmo, Scheinin, Harry
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Area Under Curve
Carbon Radioisotopes - pharmacokinetics
Corpus Striatum - diagnostic imaging
Corpus Striatum - metabolism
discriminative capacity
Dopamine Antagonists - pharmacokinetics
dopamine D2/D3 receptor
human
Humans
Male
Pain - diagnostic imaging
Pain - physiopathology
Pain Measurement - methods
pain threshold
Pain Threshold - physiology
Positron-Emission Tomography - methods
putamen
Pyrrolidines - pharmacokinetics
Raclopride - pharmacokinetics
Receptors, Dopamine D2 - physiology
Receptors, Dopamine D3
response bias
ROC Curve
Salicylamides - pharmacokinetics
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Summary:We studied in healthy humans the contribution of cerebral dopamine D2/D3 receptors to individual differences in response characteristics to painful stimulation. Positron emission tomography was used to measure the dopamine D2/D3 binding potential (D2/D3 BP) with [11C]raclopride in the striatum (n = 8) and with [11C]FLB 457 in the extrastriatal regions (n = 11). Sensitivity to cutaneous heat pain was assessed by a traditional threshold method and by an analysis based on the signal detection theory which allows the separation of an individual subject's discriminative capacity from the response criterion, i.e. the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve provides a measure of the sensory discriminability (sensory factor) and the response criterion gives an estimate of the subject's response bias or attitude (nonsensory factor). The pain threshold and response criterion were inversely correlated with the D2/D3 BP in the right putamen, whereas the discriminative capacity was not significantly correlated with the D2/D3 BP in any brain region. The correlation of the D2/D3 BP in the putamen with the pain threshold and the subject's response criterion may rather be explained by a dopaminergic effect on nonsensory factors determining the subject's attitude towards pain than by a dopaminergic effect on the subject's discriminative capacity. Alternatively, striatal dopamine D2/D3 receptors could control a modulatory pathway producing a parallel shift in the stimulus–response function for sensory signals, mimicking a change in the subject's response criterion.
ISSN:0953-816X
1460-9568
DOI:10.1111/j.1460-9568.2004.03622.x