Cited by 2,046Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on BehaviorNeural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesPersonality Traits and Psychology

Neurobiology of the structure of personality: Dopamine, facilitation of incentive motivation, and extraversion

Depue, Richard A., Collins, Paul F.·1999·Behavioral and Brain Sciences

Abstract

Extraversion has two central characteristics: (1) interpersonal engagement, which consists of affiliation (enjoying and valuing close interpersonal bonds, being warm and affectionate) and agency (being socially dominant, enjoying leadership roles, being assertive, being exhibitionistic, and having a sense of potency in accomplishing goals) and (2) impulsivity, which emerges from the interaction of extraversion and a second, independent trait (constraint). Agency is a more general motivational disposition that includes dominance, ambition, mastery, efficacy, and achievement. Positive affect (a combination of positive feelings and motivation) is closely associated with extraversion. Extraversion is accordingly based on positive incentive motivation. Parallels between extraversion (particularly its agency component) and a mammalian behavioral approach system based on positive incentive motivation implicate a neuroanatomical network and modulatory neurotransmitters in the processing of incentive motivation. A corticolimbic-striatal-thalamic network (1) integrates the salient incentive context in the medial orbital cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus; (2) encodes the intensity of incentive stimuli in a motive circuit composed of the nucleus accumbens, ventral pallidum, and ventral tegmental area dopamine projection system; and (3) creates an incentive motivational state that can be transmitted to the motor system. Individual differences in the functioning of this network arise from functional variation in the ventral tegmental area dopamine projections, which are directly involved in coding the intensity of incentive motivation. The animal evidence suggests that there are three neurodevelopmental sources of individual differences in dopamine: genetic, "experience-expectant," and "experience-dependent." Individual differences in dopamine promote variation in the heterosynaptic plasticity that enhances the connection between incentive context and incentive motivation and behavior. Our psychobiological threshold model explains the effects of individual differences in dopamine transmission on behavior, and their relation to personality traits is discussed.

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Crossref · 10.1017/s0140525x99002046

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Authors
Depue, R. A., & Collins, P. F.
Affiliations
  • Cornell University (US)
  • University of Oregon (US)
Venue
Behavioral and Brain Sciences
Published
1999-06
Volume
22
Issue
3
Pages
491-517
ISSN
  • 0140-525X (ISSN-L)
  • 1469-1825
OpenAlex
W2149886468
Cited by
2,046
References
148
Citations by year
2026: 34 · 2025: 49 · 2024: 78 · 2023: 57 · 2022: 59 · 2021: 76 · 2020: 106 · 2019: 76 · 2018: 77 · 2017: 92 · 2016: 88 · 2015: 112 · 2014: 106 · 2013: 102 · 2012: 100
FWCI
12.68
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Behavioral and Brain Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (1r01mh048114-01a1, 5r01mh055347-06)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (MH 17069, T32MH017069, MH48114, MH 55347)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
Keywords
extraversion, dopamine, incentive motivation, positive affect, agency, interpersonal engagement, impulsivity, nucleus accumbens, ventral tegmental area, ventral pallidum, heterosynaptic plasticity, individual differences, brain development, threshold model, personality traits
MeSH terms
Animals, Dopamine, Extraversion, Psychological, Humans, Individuality, Models, Neurological, Motivation, Neural Pathways, Neurobiology, Personality, Reward

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