Objectives: This study aims to assess the underlying neural basis of personality traits among individuals with high-functioning autism in comparison with controls by employing the NEO Five-Factor Model (NEO-FFM; Costa & McCrae, 1992) in an fMRI study. An investigation of personality traits will allow us to address individual differences among adults with autism.
Methods: Participants are 15 adults with high-functioning autism and 17 control adults. In the fMRI scanner, participants made judgments about their own personality traits by characterizing levels of Neuroticism and Conscientiousness from the NEO.
Results: Behavioral responses revealed that individuals with autism reported higher-level Neuroticism and lower-level of Conscientiousness compared to individuals in the control group. During the judgments of Neuroticism, the participants with autism showed reduced activation in the medial prefrontal cortex and medial temporal regions, as well as increased activation in the middle cingulated cortex. During the judgments of Conscientiousness, the participants with autism showed increased activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
Conclusions: Results suggested that idiosyncrasies of autism could be characterized in self-report and neural representations of personality traits. The neural regions in which individuals with autism exhibited atypical activations while judging their own personality traits of Neuroticism and Conscientiousness have been previously identified as having significant associations with the gray matter volume in healthy adults (De Young et al., 2010). Understanding the neural basis of inter-individual variability may promote customized interventions, which suit for individuals’ unique needs and level of functioning.
See more of: Brain Imaging: fMRI-Social Cognition and Emotion Perception
See more of: Brain Structure & Function