Abstract
Neuroticism and extraversion are personality factors associated with the vulnerability for developing depression and anxiety disorders, and are possibly differentially related to brain structures implicated in the processing of emotional information and the generation of mood states. To date, studies on brain morphology mainly focused on neuroticism, a dimension primarily related to negative affect, yielding conflicting findings concerning the association with personality, partially due to methodological issues and variable population samples under study. Recently, extraversion, a dimension primarily related to positive affect, has been repeatedly inversely related to with symptoms of depression and anxiety disorders. In the present study, high resolution structural T1-weighted MR images of 65 healthy adults were processed using an optimized Voxel Based Morphometry (VBM) approach. Multiple regression analyses were performed to test for associations of neuroticism and extraversion with prefrontal and subcortical volumes. Orbitofrontal and right amygdala volume were both positively related to extraversion. Extraversion was differentially related to volume of the anterior cingulate cortex in males (positive) and females (negative). Neuroticism scores did not significantly correlate with these brain regions. As extraversion is regarded a protective factor for developing anxiety disorders and depression and has been related to the generation of positive affect, the present results indicate that the reduced likelihood of developing affective disorders in individuals high on extraversion is related to modulation of emotion processing through the orbitofrontal cortex and the amygdala.
Highlights
Neuroticism and extraversion are personality factors that have been directly linked to emotional states: neuroticism has been associated with susceptibility to negative emotional states, whereas extraversion has been linked to susceptibility to positive emotional states [1]
Extraversion on the other hand, was found to be positively associated with amygdala activation in response to happy faces [8]. These findings indicate that core brain structures involved in emotion processing (e.g. the amygdala, the anterior cingulate gyrus, and the ventral part of the prefrontal cortex including the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC)) may play a role in the relation between personality, the processing of emotional information, and the production of mood states [9]
We focused on brain regions involved in the initial processing of emotional information and on regions related to the appraisal and decision making influence of emotional information, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and orbitofrontal cortex [16]
Summary
Neuroticism and extraversion are personality factors that have been directly linked to emotional states: neuroticism has been associated with susceptibility to negative emotional states, whereas extraversion has been linked to susceptibility to positive emotional states [1]. Neuroticism correlates positively, whereas extraversion correlates negatively, with (subsyndromal) symptoms of depression and anxiety in the general population [2] Other personality traits, such as agreeableness, openness to experiences, and conscientiousness, have been proposed to play a more indirect role in influencing affective states [1]. Extraversion on the other hand, was found to be positively associated with amygdala activation in response to happy faces [8] Together, these findings indicate that core brain structures involved in emotion processing (e.g. the amygdala, the anterior cingulate gyrus, and the ventral part of the prefrontal cortex including the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC)) may play a role in the relation between personality, the processing of emotional information, and the production of mood states [9]
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