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. 2008 Aug 1;42(1):385-92.
doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.04.027. Epub 2008 Apr 18.

Stop the sadness: Neuroticism is associated with sustained medial prefrontal cortex response to emotional facial expressions

Brian W Haas  1 , R Todd Constable, Turhan Canli
Affiliations

Stop the sadness: Neuroticism is associated with sustained medial prefrontal cortex response to emotional facial expressions

Brian W Haas et al. Neuroimage. .

Abstract

Neuroticism is a personality trait associated with negative mood states, sensitivity to negative information, negative appraisal and vulnerability to psychopathology. Previous studies have associated the sustained processing of negative information (words) with individual differences such as rumination and depression but not with personality. In the current study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between neuroticism and changes in sustained patterns of activity within a brain region implicated in emotional self-evaluation and appraisal, the Medial Prefrontal Cortex (MedPFC), when responding to emotional facial expressions (happy, fearful, and sad). We tested whether higher scores of neuroticism are associated with greater sustained patterns of brain activity in the MedPFC when responding to blocks of negative facial expressions. We found that higher scores of neuroticism were associated with greater sustained MedPFC activity throughout blocks of sad facial expressions, but not fearful or happy facial expressions. Based on the relationship between neuroticism and sensitivity to negative information, the current finding identifies a sustained temporal mechanism to this relationship.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Schematic representation of experimental design and analysis procedure. Subjects responded to 4 blocks of each condition (Sad, Fear, Happy and Neutral). Each block (B) consisted of the presentation of six face stimuli. Each trial began with a 1000 ms fixation followed by 2000 ms of stimulus presentation. Throughout the entire experiment, no trials or blocks were ever repeated. Sustained BOLD response within particular block types was assessed by applying the sustained temporal response function (blue; sTRF) (A). This function characterizes signal change (relative to neutral) that begins at the onset of a particular block type and remains consistently active throughout the entire block. Onset BOLD response within particular block types was assessed by applying the onset temporal response function (red; oTRF) (C). This function characterizes signal changes (relative to neutral) that begins at the onset a particular block type and then decays shortly thereafter. Parametric maps were created for each subject that displayed the extent to how well a given voxel fit the sTRF (A) and the oTRF (C) separately. The oTRF map was subtracted from the sTRF map for each subject, thus creating maps that represent the extent to how well a given voxel fits the sTRF more than the oTRF. Each of the resulting maps were entered into a regression analysis with higher scores of neuroticism predicting greater fit of the sTRF relative to the oTRF. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Changes in sustained left medial prefrontal cortex activity associated with neuroticism in response to sad facial expressions. Areas of significant sustained activation (yellow) are overlaid on a sagital slice (x=−8) of a standardized template brain. The cluster of activation encompassed 137 contiguous voxels. Data are plotted from this cluster, with the x-axis representing variation in neuroticism and the y-axis representing contrast values (extracted from SPM) reflective of greater fit of the sTRF relative to the oTRF. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Relationship between neuroticism (N) and change of linear slopes of MedPFC activity within blocks of sad facial expressions. Data were extracted and converted to percent signal change (relative to neutral) from the MedPFC. Slope (Standardized Beta) values were calculated for each subject during average blocks of sad facial expressions and entered into a regression analysis with higher scores of neuroticism predicting more positive (sustained) slope values (left). Right side: extracted average time-course of percent signal change and Beta values are presented for an individual scoring high on neuroticism (N=75; blue) and low on neuroticism (N=41; red). (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
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