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Related Experiment Videos

Mapping brain structure and personality in late adulthood.

V Kaasinen1, R P Maguire, T Kurki

  • 1Department of Neurology, University of Turku, FIN-20521 Turku, Finland; Turku PET Centre, FIN-20521 Turku, Finland. valtteri.kaasinen@pet.tyks.fi

Neuroimage
|January 4, 2005
PubMed
Summary

Older adults with higher self-transcendence, a personality trait linked to creativity and spiritualism, show greater gray matter volume in specific brain regions. This suggests a connection between personality and brain structure in aging.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Psychology
  • Gerontology

Background:

  • Normal aging is characterized by decreases in cerebral gray matter (GM) volume and increases in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) volume.
  • Significant interindividual variability exists in these age-related brain changes, with unclear functional consequences.
  • The relationship between brain structure and personality traits in late adulthood remains an area of investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between late adulthood brain structural differences and variations in temperament and character.
  • To explore if personality structures correlate with global and regional gray matter, CSF, and white matter volumes in healthy older adults.

Main Methods:

  • Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to assess brain volumes in 42 healthy older adults (mean age 60 years).

Related Experiment Videos

  • Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was employed to calculate global and regional gray matter (GM), cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and white matter (WM) volumes.
  • Personality structures were assessed, focusing on temperament and character traits.

    • Main Results:

    • A significant positive relationship was observed between GM volume in the temporal, parietal, and frontal cortical border regions and self-transcendence.
    • Self-transcendence, a character trait reflecting mature creativity and spiritualism, was positively associated with GM volume.
    • This association remained significant after correcting for multiple comparisons, age, and sex.

    Conclusions:

    • Higher levels of self-transcendence in older adults are associated with relatively greater temporal cortical gray matter volumes.
    • These findings suggest a link between personality characteristics, specifically self-transcendence, and brain structure in aging.
    • Self-transcendence may have adaptive advantages in later life, potentially supported by preserved or greater gray matter volume.