New Evidence for the Cerebellar Involvement in Personality Traits

Overview

Journal Front Behav Neurosci

Specialty Psychology

Date 2013 Oct 10

PMID 24106465

Citations 22

Authors

Eleonora Picerni

Laura Petrosini

Fabrizio Piras

Daniela Laricchiuta

Debora Cutuli

Chiara Chiapponi

Sabrina Fagioli

Paolo Girardi

Carlo Caltagirone

Gianfranco Spalletta

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Following the recognition of its role in sensory-motor coordination and learning, the cerebellum has been involved in cognitive, emotional, and even personality domains. This study investigated the relationships between cerebellar macro- and micro-structural variations and temperamental traits measured by Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). High resolution T1-weighted, and Diffusion Tensor Images of 100 healthy subjects aged 18-59 years were acquired by 3 Tesla Magnetic Resonance scanner. In multiple regression analyses, cerebellar Gray Matter (GM) or White Matter (WM) volumes, GM Mean Diffusivity (MD), and WM Fractional Anisotropy (FA) were used as dependent variables, TCI scores as regressors, gender, age, and education years as covariates. Novelty Seeking scores were associated positively with the cerebellar GM volumes and FA, and negatively with MD. No significant association between Harm Avoidance, Reward Dependence or Persistence scores and cerebellar structural measures was found. The present data put toward a cerebellar involvement in the management of novelty.

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