The Neurobiology of Individual Differences in Complex Behavioral Traits

• Published in: Annual review of neuroscience Vol. 32; no. 1; pp. 225 - 247
• Main Author: HARIRI, Ahmad R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Palo Alto, CA Annual Reviews 01-01-2009; Annual Reviews, Inc
• Subjects: Anatomical correlates of behavior; Animals; Behavior; Behavior - physiology; Behavioral psychophysiology; Biological and medical sciences; Biomarkers - analysis; Brain; Brain Mapping - methods; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genetic Predisposition to Disease - genetics; Genetic Variation - physiology; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Neurobiology; Neurons; Neuropsychology - methods; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Personality traits; Polymorphism; Positron-Emission Tomography - methods; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Quantitative Trait, Heritable; Signal transduction; Dopamine; Amygdala; Serotonin; genes; ventral striatum; Central nervous system; Basal ganglion; Personality; Corpus striatum; Review; Catecholamine; Temperament; Encephalon; Gene; Interindividual comparison; Neurotransmitter; Behavior; Amygdaloid nucleus
• ISSN: 0147-006X; 1545-4126
• DOI: 10.1146/annurev.neuro.051508.135335

Neuroimaging, especially BOLD fMRI, has begun to identify how variability in brain function contributes to individual differences in complex behavioral traits. In parallel, pharmacological fMRI and multimodal PET/fMRI are identifying how variability in molecular signaling pathways influences individual differences in brain function. Against this background, functional genetic polymorphisms are being utilized to understand the origins of variability in signaling pathways as well as to model efficiently how such emergent variability impacts behaviorally relevant brain function. This article provides an overview of a research strategy seeking to integrate these complementary technologies and utilizes existing empirical data to illustrate its effectiveness in illuminating the neurobiology of individual differences in complex behavioral traits. The article also discusses how such efforts can contribute to the identification of predictive markers that interact with environmental factors to precipitate disease and to develop more effective and individually tailored treatment regimes.