Dopamine is released in the striatum during human emotional processing

Abstract

As the role of dopamine in human emotional processing is unclear, we used a dynamic molecular imaging technique to examine whether striatal dopamine is released during processing of negative emotions in healthy volunteers. After volunteers have received an intravenous injection of a dopamine receptor ligand C-raclopride, they were asked to perform a task that elicited negative emotions. During task performance the ligand concentration was measured dynamically using a positron emission tomography camera. Analysis of the data indicated that the task performance is associated with dopamine release in the head of caudate and in the dorsal putamen bilaterally.

FIGURE 1

t-map showing striatal areas where the rate of ligand (¹¹C-raclopride) displacement increased significantly (t>3) after initiation of a task that elicited negative emotion (vertical line). The time-activity curves show the concentration history and least square fits for the ligand in activated regions of the right caudate and left putamen. The lower curve in the left panel represents concentration history in the reference region (cerebellum) where the rate of ligand displacement did not change significantly after task initiation.