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. 2015 Dec 14;10(12):e0143510.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0143510. eCollection 2015.

Striatal Dopamine D2/D3 Receptor Availability Is Associated with Executive Function in Healthy Controls but Not Methamphetamine Users

Michael E Ballard  1   2 , Andy C Dean  1   3 , Mark A Mandelkern  2   4 , Edythe D London  1   2   3   5
Affiliations

Striatal Dopamine D2/D3 Receptor Availability Is Associated with Executive Function in Healthy Controls but Not Methamphetamine Users

Michael E Ballard et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Dopamine D2/D3 receptor availability in the striatum has been linked with executive function in healthy individuals, and is below control levels among drug addicts, possibly contributing to diminished executive function in the latter group. This study tested for an association of striatal D2/D3 receptor availability with a measure of executive function among research participants who met DSM-IV criteria for methamphetamine dependence.

Methods: Methamphetamine users and non-user controls (n = 18 per group) completed the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and positron emission tomography with [18F]fallypride.

Results: The methamphetamine users displayed significantly lower striatal D2/D3 receptor availability on average than controls after controlling for age and education (p = 0.008), but they did not register greater proportions of either perseverative or non-perseverative errors when controlling for education (both ps ≥ 0.622). The proportion of non-perseverative, but not perseverative, errors was negatively correlated with striatal D2/D3 receptor availability among controls (r = -0.588, p = 0.010), but not methamphetamine users (r = 0.281, p = 0.258), and the group-wise interaction was significant (p = 0.030).

Conclusions: These results suggest that cognitive flexibility, as measured by perseverative errors on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, is not determined by signaling through striatal D2/D3 receptors in healthy controls, and that in stimulant abusers, who have lower D2/D3 receptor availability, compensation can effectively maintain other executive functions, which are associated with D2/D3 receptor signaling in controls.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Relationships between striatal D2/D3 receptor availability and executive function measures.
Regression lines illustrate correlations between striatal dopamine D2/D3 receptor availability (indexed by [18F]fallypride BPND) and proportions of trials registered as non-perseverative (top row) and perseverative (bottom row) errors in methamphetamine (MA) users and non-user controls. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients are shown (r values).
Fig 2
Fig 2. Relationships between D2/D3 receptor availability in striatal subregions and executive function measures.
Regression lines illustrate correlations between striatal dopamine D2/D3 receptor availability (indexed by [18F]fallypride BPND) and proportions of trials registered as non-perseverative and perseverative errors in the striatal functional subdivisions of methamphetamine (MA) users (bottom row) and non-user controls (top row). Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients are shown (r values).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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