Conscientiousness associated with efficiency of the salience/ventral attention network: Replication in three samples using individualized parcellation

Tyler A Sassenberg; Philip C Burton; Laetitia Mwilambwe-Tshilobo; Rex E Jung; Aldo Rustichini; R Nathan Spreng; Colin G DeYoung

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120081

Conscientiousness associated with efficiency of the salience/ventral attention network: Replication in three samples using individualized parcellation

Neuroimage. 2023 May 15:272:120081. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120081. Epub 2023 Apr 1.

Authors

Tyler A Sassenberg¹, Philip C Burton², Laetitia Mwilambwe-Tshilobo³, Rex E Jung⁴, Aldo Rustichini⁵, R Nathan Spreng⁶, Colin G DeYoung²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, N616 Elliott Hall, 75 East River Parkway, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. Electronic address: sasse025@umn.edu.
² Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, N616 Elliott Hall, 75 East River Parkway, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
³ Department of Psychology, Princeton University, USA; University of Pennsylvania, Annenberg School for Communication, USA.
⁴ Department of Neurosurgery, University of New Mexico, USA.
⁵ Department of Economics, University of Minnesota, USA.
⁶ Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Canada.

Abstract

Conscientiousness, and related constructs impulsivity and self-control, have been related to structural and functional properties of regions in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and anterior insula. Network-based conceptions of brain function suggest that these regions belong to a single large-scale network, labeled the salience/ventral attention network (SVAN). The current study tested associations between conscientiousness and resting-state functional connectivity in this network using two community samples (N's = 244 and 239) and data from the Human Connectome Project (N = 1000). Individualized parcellation was used to improve functional localization accuracy and facilitate replication. Functional connectivity was measured using an index of network efficiency, a graph theoretical measure quantifying the capacity for parallel information transfer within a network. Efficiency of a set of parcels in the SVAN was significantly associated with conscientiousness in all samples. Findings are consistent with a theory of conscientiousness as a function of variation in neural networks underlying effective prioritization of goals.

Keywords: Conscientiousness; Efficiency; Individualized parcellation; Salience network; Ventral attention network.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Brain Mapping
Connectome*
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging*
Neural Pathways

Grants and funding

R03 DA029177/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United States