Psychologists at Washington University in St. Louis have found an intriguing possibility that personality and brain aging during the golden years may be linked.
Studying MRI images of 79 volunteers between the ages of 44 and 88 -- who also had provided personality and demographic data -- the researchers found lower volumes of gray matter in the frontal and medial temporal brain regions of volunteers who ranked high in neuroticism traits, compared with higher volumes of gray matter in those who ranked high in conscientious traits.
Studying MRI images of 79 volunteers between the ages of 44 and 88 -- who also had provided personality and demographic data -- the researchers found lower volumes of gray matter in the frontal and medial temporal brain regions of volunteers who ranked high in neuroticism traits, compared with higher volumes of gray matter in those who ranked high in conscientious traits.
I really don't know what to make of this other than high intelligence and creativity have also been linked to neuroses, so it might be some kind of biologically cruel thermodynamic Catch-22 that the brilliant ones flame out earlier. To read the rest of the article, click here.