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A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions
Published on: July 16, 2015
Intellect as distinct from Openness: differences revealed by fMRI of working memory
Colin G DeYoung1, Noah A Shamosh, Adam E Green
1Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. cdeyoung@umn.edu
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
|October 28, 2009
Summary
Brain activity supporting working memory (WM) is linked to the Intellect aspect of personality, not Openness to Experience. This neural activity in specific brain regions mediates Intellect and WM performance.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Personality Psychology
Background:
- The neural underpinnings of the Big Five personality trait Openness/Intellect remain largely unexplored.
- Openness/Intellect comprises two distinct facets: Openness to Experience and Intellect.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neural correlates of Openness to Experience and Intellect.
- To test the hypothesis that working memory (WM) brain activity relates to Intellect but not Openness.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was employed to scan 104 healthy adults during a challenging WM task.
- Behavioral data on WM performance and personality traits were collected.
Main Results:
- Intellect, but not Openness, correlated with WM accuracy and associated brain activity in the left lateral anterior prefrontal cortex and posterior medial frontal cortex.
- Neural activity in these frontal regions mediated the relationship between Intellect and WM performance.
- Intellect scores also correlated with intelligence and WM capacity, but brain activity associations were not solely explained by cognitive ability.
Conclusions:
- The findings implicate specific prefrontal and medial frontal brain regions in the neural basis of Intellect.
- This study provides crucial insights into the neurobiology of personality, specifically the Intellect dimension.
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