Extraversion in pathological gamblers. Correlates with indexes of noradrenergic function.

Pathological gamblers may have a disturbance of their central nervous system noradrenergic functioning. We administered the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire to pathological gamblers and examined relationships between their personality scores on this questionnaire and indexes of noradrenergic function. There were highly significant correlations between scores on the extraversion scale and cerebrospinal fluid levels of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol, plasma levels of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol, urinary outputs of vanillylmandelic acid, as well as with the sum of urinary outputs of norepinephrine and its major metabolites. These results suggest that the disturbance in the central noradrenergic system in pathological gamblers may be partly reflected in their personality.