Relationship between extraversion personality and gray matter volume and functional connectivity density in healthy young adults: an fMRI study

Abstract

Extraversion and neuroticism are two main dimensions of Eysenck's personality. We assessed the relationship between extraversion and neuroticism with brain structure and function by voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and functional connectivity density (FCD). The resting state functional magnetic resonance image and high resolution structural T1 weighted images of 100 young healthy subjects were used in analysis. Our results showed that extraversion was negatively correlated with gray matter volume (GMV) of the bilateral putamen, and it was negatively correlated with FCD in the precuneus. No associations between neuroticism and brain structure and function changes. Overall, our results suggested that several brain regions involved in shaping of extraversion traits among young individuals, which may provide a neurobiological basis of extraversion.

Keywords: Extraversion; FCD; GMV; Neuroticism; Personality; fMRI.