TY - JOUR
T1 - Individual differences in personality traits reflect structural variance in specific brain regions
AU - Gardini, Simona
AU - Cloninger, C. Robert
AU - Venneri, Annalena
PY - 2009/6/30
Y1 - 2009/6/30
N2 - Personality dimensions such as novelty seeking (NS), harm avoidance (HA), reward dependence (RD) and persistence (PER) are said to be heritable, stable across time and dependent on genetic and neurobiological factors. Recently a better understanding of the relationship between personality traits and brain structures/systems has become possible due to advances in neuroimaging techniques. This Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) study investigated if individual differences in these personality traits reflected structural variance in specific brain regions. A large sample of eighty five young adult participants completed the Three-dimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ) and had their brain imaged with MRI. A voxel-based correlation analysis was carried out between individuals' personality trait scores and grey matter volume values extracted from 3D brain scans. NS correlated positively with grey matter volume in frontal and posterior cingulate regions. HA showed a negative correlation with grey matter volume in orbito-frontal, occipital and parietal structures. RD was negatively correlated with grey matter volume in the caudate nucleus and in the rectal frontal gyrus. PER showed a positive correlation with grey matter volume in the precuneus, paracentral lobule and parahippocampal gyrus. These results indicate that individual differences in the main personality dimensions of NS, HA, RD and PER, may reflect structural variance in specific brain areas.
AB - Personality dimensions such as novelty seeking (NS), harm avoidance (HA), reward dependence (RD) and persistence (PER) are said to be heritable, stable across time and dependent on genetic and neurobiological factors. Recently a better understanding of the relationship between personality traits and brain structures/systems has become possible due to advances in neuroimaging techniques. This Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) study investigated if individual differences in these personality traits reflected structural variance in specific brain regions. A large sample of eighty five young adult participants completed the Three-dimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ) and had their brain imaged with MRI. A voxel-based correlation analysis was carried out between individuals' personality trait scores and grey matter volume values extracted from 3D brain scans. NS correlated positively with grey matter volume in frontal and posterior cingulate regions. HA showed a negative correlation with grey matter volume in orbito-frontal, occipital and parietal structures. RD was negatively correlated with grey matter volume in the caudate nucleus and in the rectal frontal gyrus. PER showed a positive correlation with grey matter volume in the precuneus, paracentral lobule and parahippocampal gyrus. These results indicate that individual differences in the main personality dimensions of NS, HA, RD and PER, may reflect structural variance in specific brain areas.
KW - Brain
KW - Grey matter
KW - MRI
KW - Personality
KW - TPQ
KW - Voxel-based morphometry
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=67349119220&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2009.03.005
DO - 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2009.03.005
M3 - Article
C2 - 19480986
AN - SCOPUS:67349119220
SN - 0361-9230
VL - 79
SP - 265
EP - 270
JO - Brain Research Bulletin
JF - Brain Research Bulletin
IS - 5
ER -