A Sib-Pair Study of the Temperament and Character Inventory Scales in Major Depression

Farmer, Anne; Mahmood, Arshad; Redman, Kate; Harris, Tirril; Sadler, Stephanie; McGuffin, Peter

doi:10.1001/archpsyc.60.5.490

Cited by 234 publications

(218 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…One study has even indicated that this increase in ' self-directedness ' has also predictive value for changes in depressive symptoms as measured with BDI (Mazza et al 2009). Therefore, character dimensions may modulate the expression of mood states (Farmer et al 2003 ;Cloninger, 2004 ;Cloninger et al 2010) and our results may shed light on why both depressive symptoms and ' selfdirectedness ' improve during serotonin-altering psychopharmacological treatment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 69%

Temperament, character and serotonin activity in the human brain: a positron emission tomography study based on a general population cohort

et al. 2012

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Tuominen, L.; Salo, J.; Hirvonen, J.; Någren, K.; Laine, P.; Melartin, T.; Isometsä, E.; Viikari, J.; Cloninger, C. R.; Raitakari, O.; Hietala, J.; and Keltikangas-Järvinen, L., ,"Temperament, character and serotonin activity in the human brain: A positron emission tomography study based on a general population cohort." Psychological Medicine. 43,4. 881-894. (2012 Background. The psychobiological model of personality by Cloninger and colleagues originally hypothesized that interindividual variability in the temperament dimension ' harm avoidance ' (HA) is explained by differences in the activity of the brain serotonin system. We assessed brain serotonin transporter (5-HTT) density in vivo with positron emission tomography (PET) in healthy individuals with high or low HA scores using an ' oversampling ' study design.Method. Subjects consistently in either upper or lower quartiles for the HA trait were selected from a populationbased cohort in Finland (n=2075) with pre-existing Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) scores. A total of 22 subjects free of psychiatric and somatic disorders were included in the matched high-and low-HA groups. The main outcome measure was regional 5-HTT binding potential (BP ND ) in high-and low-HA groups estimated with PET and [ 11 C]N,N-dimethyl-2-(2-amino-4-methylphenylthio)benzylamine ([ 11 C]MADAM). In secondary analyses, 5-HTT BP ND was correlated with other TCI dimensions.Results. 5-HTT BP ND did not differ between high-and low-HA groups in the midbrain or any other brain region. This result remained the same even after adjusting for other relevant TCI dimensions. Higher 5-HTT BP ND in the raphe nucleus predicted higher scores in ' self-directedness '.Conclusions. This study does not support an association between the temperament dimension HA and serotonin transporter density in healthy subjects. However, we found a link between high serotonin transporter density and high ' self-directedness ' (ability to adapt and control one's behaviour to fit situations in accord with chosen goals and values). We suggest that biological factors are more important in explaining variability in character than previously thought.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 69%

Temperament, character and serotonin activity in the human brain: a positron emission tomography study based on a general population cohort

et al. 2012

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“…In line with this hypothesis, studies have found that anhedonia can precede the onset of depression (Dryman and Eaton, 1991); shows temporal stability (Oquendo et al, 2004); predicts poor outcome 12 months later (Spijker et al, 2001); and is associated with dysfunctions within the brain reward system (Keedwell et al, 2005;Tremblay et al, 2002). Moreover, reward dependence, a putatively heritable trait associated with maintenance of behavior in response to reward cues, shows trait-like features associated with familiality of depression (Farmer et al, 2003). Collectively, these findings suggest that anhedonia is among the most promising endophenotypes of depression (Hasler et al, 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Reduced hedonic capacity in major depressive disorder: Evidence from a probabilistic reward task

Pizzagalli

Iosifescu

Hallett

et al. 2008

Journal of Psychiatric Research

652

693

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Objective-Anhedonia, the lack of reactivity to pleasurable stimuli, is a cardinal feature of depression that has received renewed interest as a potential endophenotype of this debilitating disease. The goal of the present study was to test the hypothesis that individuals with major depression are characterized by blunted reward responsiveness, particularly when anhedonic symptoms are prominent.Methods-A probabilistic reward task rooted within signal-detection theory was utilized to objectively assess hedonic capacity in 23 unmedicated subjects meeting DSM-IV criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD) and 25 matched control subjects recruited from the community. Hedonic capacity was defined as reward responsiveness -i.e., the participants' propensity to modulate behavior as a function of reward.Results-Compared to controls, MDD subjects showed significantly reduced reward responsiveness. Trial-by-trial probability analyses revealed that MDD subjects, while responsive to delivery of single rewards, were impaired at integrating reinforcement history over time and expressing a response bias toward a more frequently rewarded cue in the absence of immediate reward. This selective impairment correlated with self-reported anhedonic symptoms, even after considering anxiety symptoms and general distress.Conclusions-These findings indicate that MDD is characterized by an impaired tendency to modulate behavior as a function of prior reinforcements, and provides initial clues about which aspects of hedonic processing might be dysfunctional in depression.

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“…For example, anhedonia symptoms often precede the onset of MDD (Dryman and Eaton, 1991) and seem to be relatively stable over time (Oquendo et al, 2004). A sib-pair study showed that the personality construct 'reward dependence' has trait-like characteristics related to the familiality of major depression (Farmer et al, 2003). Given the extensive evidence for associations between impairments of brain reward pathways and addiction (Nestler et al, 2002), familial coaggregation and lifetime comorbidity of substance use disorders and MDD (Kendler et al, 1997;Brook et al, 2002) also suggest persistent familial abnormalities of brain reward pathways in MDD.…”

Section: Anhedonia (Impaired Reward Function)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Discovering Endophenotypes for Major Depression

Hasler

Drevets

Manji

et al. 2004

Neuropsychopharmacol

1,022

739

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The limited success of genetic studies of major depression has raised questions concerning the definition of genetically relevant phenotypes. This paper presents strategies to improve the phenotypic definition of major depression by proposing endophenotypes at two levels: First, dissecting the depressive phenotype into key components results in narrow definitions of putative psychopathological endophenotypes: mood bias toward negative emotions, impaired reward function, impaired learning and memory, neurovegetative signs, impaired diurnal variation, impaired executive cognitive function, psychomotor change, and increased stress sensitivity. A review of the recent literature on neurobiological and genetic findings associated with these components is given. Second, the most consistent heritable biological markers of major depression are proposed as biological endophenotypes for genetic studies: REM sleep abnormalities, functional and structural brain abnormalities, dysfunctions in serotonergic, catecholaminergic, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis, and CRH systems, and intracellular signal transduction endophenotypes. The associations among the psychopathological and biological endophenotypes are discussed with respect to specificity, temporal stability, heritability, familiality, and clinical and biological plausibility. Finally, the case is made for the development of a new classification system in order to reduce the heterogeneity of depression representing a major impediment to elucidating the genetic and neurobiological basis of this common, severe, and often life-threatening illness.

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A Sib-Pair Study of the Temperament and Character Inventory Scales in Major Depression

Abstract: Harm avoidance, reward dependence, novelty seeking, and self-directedness have traitlike characteristics that are related to the familiality of depression. Cooperativeness, self-transcendence, and persistence are also familial, but this appears to be unrelated to depression.

Cited by 234 publications

References 17 publications

Temperament, character and serotonin activity in the human brain: a positron emission tomography study based on a general population cohort

Temperament, character and serotonin activity in the human brain: a positron emission tomography study based on a general population cohort

Reduced hedonic capacity in major depressive disorder: Evidence from a probabilistic reward task

Discovering Endophenotypes for Major Depression

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