Review
The neurobiological basis of temperament: Towards a better understanding of psychopathology

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2005.09.003Get rights and content

Abstract

The ability to characterise psychopathologies on the basis of their underlying neurobiology is critical in improving our understanding of disorder etiology and making more effective diagnostic and treatment decisions. Given the well-documented relationship between temperament (i.e. core personality traits) and psychopathology, research investigating the neurobiological substrates that underlie temperament is potentially key to our understanding of the biological basis of mental disorder. We present evidence that specific areas of the prefrontal cortex (including the dorsolateral prefrontal, anterior cingulate, and orbitofrontal cortices) and limbic structures (including the amygdala, hippocampus and nucleus accumbens) are key regions associated with three fundamental dimensions of temperament: Negative Affect, Positive Affect, and Constraint. Proposed relationships are based on two types of research: (a) research into the neurobiological correlates of affective and cognitive processes underlying these dimensions; and (b) research into the neurobiology of various psychopathologies, which have been correlated with these dimensions. A model is proposed detailing how these structures might comprise neural networks whose functioning underlies the three temperaments. Recommendations are made for future research into the neurobiology of temperament, including the need to focus on neural networks rather than individual structures, and the importance of prospective, longitudinal, multi-modal imaging studies in at-risk youth.

Section snippets

Core affective dimensions and psychopathology

Recent work on the underlying structure of psychopathological symptoms has revealed that the fundamental dimensions of symptomatology thematically resemble the underlying structure of temperament description. Krueger (1999), in a study of ten common mental disorders, found a three-factor model to provide the best fit to the pattern of comorbidity among symptoms in a national probability sample of 8098 US civilians. The first factor, which the authors name externalising, was indicated by Alcohol

Neurobiological underpinnings of core affective dimensions

The idea that temperament is grounded in biology has been around for many decades. Eysenck (1967) was a pioneer in attempting to relate temperament to individual differences in cortical arousability. Gray, 1983, Gray, 1994, using data about brain systems that are known to be involved in emotions, learning, memory, and motor behaviour, developed a comprehensive model describing how individual differences in temperament are produced by differences in the relative activity within and interactions

Underlying neural circuitry of core affective dimensions and psychopathology

In the remainder of this review, a model will be proposed that describes the hypothesised relationship between three core temperamental dimensions NA, PA, and Constraint, and six key interconnected brain regions. The brain structures that we conjecture to be associated with these temperamental dimensions have been selected on several grounds. Firstly, they have all been implicated in at least one of the aforementioned neurobiological models of temperament. Secondly, they have all been

A model of the neurobiology of three affective temperaments

Clearly, research on the neurobiology of fundamental dimensions of temperament is in its infancy, and much remains to be done. Nevertheless, there is converging evidence and enough commonalities in the findings to begin to model these associations. To this end, evidence has been presented for three affective temperamental dimensions (NA, PA, and Constraint) being associated with specific networks of neural structures. This evidence comes from neurobiological studies of psychopathologies that

Future directions

Recent advances in imaging technology offer unique opportunities in better delineating the relationship between temperament and neurobiology. In this regard, we suggest that future studies utilise multi-modal imaging paradigms, including methods that directly assess brain connectivity, as well as incorporate other biological information such as genetics. In order to fully understand the relationship between temperament and psychopathology, prospective, longitudinal studies will be essential.

Conclusions

Research into (a) the neurobiology of psychopathologies involving affective disturbances, and (b) affective processes in healthy individuals, provides evidence for a relationship between three affective temperamental dimensions—NA, PA, and Constraint—and specific neural networks. These networks, in line with recent models of the neural circuitry underlying different behavioural functions, connect specific areas of the prefrontal cortex (involved in conscious behavioural and affective

Acknowledgements

Dan I. Lubman is supported by the Nauma Licht Trust.

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