Disconnected minds, open minds: White matter correlates of high Openness support a dimensional model of psychosis

Abstract

An important goal in individual differences research is to develop a deeper understanding of how the brain produces adaptive traits and to examine how such adaptation may become disrupted or dysfunctional. Psychotic-spectrum disorders are one of the most prevalent and well-researched mental illnesses, and increasing attention is being paid to identifying endophenotypes in dimensional models of psychotic spectrum illnesses. Openness is the Big Five personality trait domain that appears most related to the positive symptoms of psychosis; we examined the white matter correlates of Openness in 145 healthy men and women. Findings support our hypothesis that the white matter correlates of Openness overlap substantially with the white matter connectivity patterns typically seen in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. These findings provide biological support for the notion that the genetic liability to psychosis is shared across the population, is evident in brain structure, and manifests as normal personality variation at subclinical levels.