Neuroticism and extraversion are associated with amygdala resting-state functional connectivity

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychology
• Brain Imaging

Background:

• Personality traits like neuroticism and extraversion are linked to socioemotional functioning and affective disorders.
• The underlying neurobiology of these trait-specific differences remains unclear.
• A brain connectivity approach, specifically examining amygdala networks, is proposed to investigate this discrepancy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the intrinsic functional architecture of amygdala-centered networks.
• To examine the associations between amygdala resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) and the personality traits of neuroticism and extraversion.

Main Methods:

• Seed-based correlation analysis was used to assess amygdala RSFC.
• Fifty healthy participants were included in the study.
• Associations between RSFC and neuroticism/extraversion scores were analyzed.

Main Results:

• Higher neuroticism correlated with increased amygdala RSFC with the precuneus and decreased RSFC with temporal poles, insula, and superior temporal gyrus.
• Higher extraversion correlated with increased amygdala RSFC with the putamen, temporal pole, insula, and occipital cortex.
• Significant associations were found at p < .05, cluster corrected.

Conclusions:

• Observed amygdala RSFC patterns associated with neuroticism may reflect altered processing of socioemotional information.
• Amygdala RSFC patterns linked to extraversion might relate to reward sensitivity and enhanced socioemotional functioning.
• Variability in amygdala RSFC could potentially connect these personality traits to the neurobiology of affective disorder susceptibility or resilience.