Abstract
The Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) is described in Gray’s Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory as a hypothetical construct
that mediates anxiety in animals and humans. The neuroanatomical correlates of this system are not fully clear, although they
are known to involve the amygdala, the septohippocampal system, and the prefrontal cortex. Previous neuroimaging research
has related individual differences in BIS with regional volume and functional variations in the prefrontal cortex, amygdala,
and hippocampal formation. The aim of the present work was to study BIS-related individual differences and their relationship
with brain regional volume. BIS sensitivity was assessed through the BIS/BAS questionnaire in a sample of male participants
(N = 114), and the scores were correlated with brain regional volume in a voxel-based morphometry analysis. The results show
a negative correlation between the BIS and the volume of the right and medial orbitofrontal cortices and the precuneus. Our
results and previous findings suggest that individual differences in anxiety-related personality traits and their related
psychopathology may be associated with reduced brain volume in certain structures relating to emotional control (i.e., the
orbitofrontal cortex) and self-consciousness (i.e., the precuneus), as shown by our results.
that mediates anxiety in animals and humans. The neuroanatomical correlates of this system are not fully clear, although they
are known to involve the amygdala, the septohippocampal system, and the prefrontal cortex. Previous neuroimaging research
has related individual differences in BIS with regional volume and functional variations in the prefrontal cortex, amygdala,
and hippocampal formation. The aim of the present work was to study BIS-related individual differences and their relationship
with brain regional volume. BIS sensitivity was assessed through the BIS/BAS questionnaire in a sample of male participants
(N = 114), and the scores were correlated with brain regional volume in a voxel-based morphometry analysis. The results show
a negative correlation between the BIS and the volume of the right and medial orbitofrontal cortices and the precuneus. Our
results and previous findings suggest that individual differences in anxiety-related personality traits and their related
psychopathology may be associated with reduced brain volume in certain structures relating to emotional control (i.e., the
orbitofrontal cortex) and self-consciousness (i.e., the precuneus), as shown by our results.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Pages 1-8
- DOI 10.3758/s13415-012-0099-5
- Authors
- Paola Fuentes, Departamento de Psicología Básica, Clínica y Psicobiología, Universitat Jaume I, Av. de Vicent Sos Baynat, s/n 12071, Castelló de la Plana, Spain
- Alfonso Barrós-Loscertales, Departamento de Psicología Básica, Clínica y Psicobiología, Universitat Jaume I, Av. de Vicent Sos Baynat, s/n 12071, Castelló de la Plana, Spain
- Juan Carlos Bustamante, Departamento de Psicología Básica, Clínica y Psicobiología, Universitat Jaume I, Av. de Vicent Sos Baynat, s/n 12071, Castelló de la Plana, Spain
- Patricia Rosell, Departamento de Psicología Básica, Clínica y Psicobiología, Universitat Jaume I, Av. de Vicent Sos Baynat, s/n 12071, Castelló de la Plana, Spain
- Víctor Costumero, Departamento de Psicología Básica, Clínica y Psicobiología, Universitat Jaume I, Av. de Vicent Sos Baynat, s/n 12071, Castelló de la Plana, Spain
- César Ávila, Departamento de Psicología Básica, Clínica y Psicobiología, Universitat Jaume I, Av. de Vicent Sos Baynat, s/n 12071, Castelló de la Plana, Spain
- Journal Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience
- Online ISSN 1531-135X
- Print ISSN 1530-7026