Linking Striatal Dopaminergic Asymmetry with Personality Traits: Insights from Gambling Disorder

The role of dopamine in the pathophysiology of gambling disorder (GD) remains incompletely understood, with disparate research findings concerning presynaptic and postsynaptic structures and dopaminergic synthesis. The aim of this study was to investigate potential correlations between striatal dopamine transporter (DAT) lateralization and asymmetry index, as assessed by 123I-FP-CIT SPECT, and temperamental traits, as measured by Cloninger’s Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), in GD subjects. Significant associations were found between DAT binding asymmetries in the caudate and putamen and the temperamental dimensions of harm avoidance and novelty seeking. Specifically, high novelty seeking scores correlated with increased DAT binding in the left caudate relative to the right, whereas higher harm avoidance scores corresponded to increased DAT binding in the right putamen relative to the left. These observations potentially imply that the asymmetry in DAT expression in the basal ganglia could be an outcome of hemispheric asymmetry in emotional processing and behavioural guidance. In summary, our study provides evidence supporting the relationship between DAT asymmetries, temperamental dimensions and GD. Future investigations could be directed towards examining postsynaptic receptors to gain a more comprehensive understanding of dopamine's influence within the basal ganglia circuit in disordered gambling. If confirmed in larger cohorts, these findings could have substantial implications for the tailoring of individualized neuromodulation therapies in the treatment of behavioural addictions.