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Abstract #3384

Sensation Seeking and Aversive Stimulation - A Functional MRI Study at 3 Tesla

Harald Kugel1, Christina Sehlmeyer2,3, Sonja Schoening2,3, Maike Kleemeyer3, Kristin Herper3, Rauch Astrid2,3, Hagen Schiffbauer1, Bettina Pfleiderer1, Volker Arolt2, Pienie Zwitserlood4, Walter Heindel1, Carsten Konrad2,3

1Dept. of Clinical Radiology, University of Muenster, Muenster, NRW, Germany; 2Dept. of Psychiatry, University of Muenster, Muenster, NRW, Germany; 3Research Group 4, Interdisciplinary Center for Clinical Research (IZKF), University of Muenster, Muenster, NRW, Germany; 4Dept of Psychology, University of Muenster, Muenster, NRW, Germany


Sensation Seeking (SENS) is a personality trait characterized by the need for threatening stimuli even at the cost of personal risk. Low sensation seekers avoid intense and dangerous sensory stimulations. We examine the association between Sensation Seeking and the neurobiological mechanisms of fear processing with fMRI. It is suggested that the personality trait SENS correlates with neuronal responses to fear-stimuli.