Abstract
The personality traits of neuroticism, openness, and conscientiousness are relevant factors for cognitive aging outcomes. The present study examined how these traits were associated with cognitive abilities and corresponding resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) of the default mode network (DMN) in an older and predominantly minority sample. A sample of 58 cognitively unimpaired, largely African-American, older adults (M age = 68.28 ± 8.33) completed a standard RSFC magnetic resonance imaging sequence, a Big Five measure of personality, and delayed memory, Stroop, and verbal fluency tasks. Personality trait associations of within-network connectivity of the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), a hub of the DMN, were examined using a seed-based approach. Trait scores were regressed on cognitive performance (delayed memory for neuroticism, Stroop for conscientiousness, and verbal fluency for openness). Greater openness predicted greater verbal fluency and greater RSFC between the PCC and eight clusters, including the medial prefrontal cortex, left middle frontal gyrus, and precuneus. Greater PCC-precuneus connectivity predicted greater verbal fluency. Neuroticism and conscientiousness did not significantly predict either cognitive performance or RSFC. Although requiring replication and elaboration, the results implicate openness as a contributing factor to cognitive aging via concomitant cognitive performance and connectivity within cortical hubs of the DMN and add to the sparse literature on these variables in a diverse group of older adults.
Highlights
Meta-analytic and prospective research findings have shown the personality traits of neuroticism, conscientiousness, and openness are consistent predictors of cognitive aging outcomes
Older age was associated with lower verbal fluency performance (r = −.394, p = .002) and poorer performance on the Wechsler Memory Scale – IV (WMS-IV) delayed memory index (r = −.527, p < .001), but was not associated with Stroop performance (r = .130, p = .341)
There was no significant difference between African-American participants and European-American participants on any of the measures
Summary
Meta-analytic and prospective research findings have shown the personality traits of neuroticism (anxious versus calm), conscientiousness (responsible versus careless), and openness (exploratory versus incurious) are consistent predictors of cognitive aging outcomes. The extant literature shows mixed results and personality traits have been linked to differences in structure and function of a variety of non-converging brain regions These studies are primarily comprised of convenient, nonrepresentative samples that generally consist of younger or middle-aged adults of European-American descent with a high socioeconomic status (Falk et al, 2013). Wright, Feczko, Dickerson and Williams (2007) showed greater neuroticism was related to decreased thickness in the lateral superior and inferior frontal cortex among older adults In another prospective study, greater neuroticism was associated with smaller OFC, dlPFC, and rolandic operculum regions; greater openness was related to larger frontopolar and smaller OFC and insular regions; and greater conscientiousness was associated with larger dlPFC and smaller frontopolar cortices (Kapogiannis, Sutin, Davatzikos, Costa, & Resnick, 2013). This work showed openness was the only trait that could be reliably predicted based on RSFC patterns
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