Personality Tied to Aging Brain Activity

DolceTracker| MRI brain scans of aging people are providing rich possibilities to associate conscientious vs neurotic behavior with brain activity. Neither word is defined in the scientific release, but researchers have positively associated brain activity with personality traits.

Neurotic people registered lower amounts of grey matter n the frontal and medial temporal brain regions and the orbitofrontal cortex, which is part of the prefrontal region and involved in social/emotional processing. via Science Daily

Scientists are looking for connections between health brains and Alzheimer’s, but the embryonic research has a host of other possibilities. Last year scientists determined major differences between the brains of conservatives and liberals. No word on independents.

At the risk of aggravating readers, liberal brains registered more activity and flexibility in processing new facts. Now if we can only prove that conscientious, liberal brains age the healthiest, we may have an argument for moving forward as human beings. Personally, I’d like to see more talk about brain structure and less about morality in our national political dialogues. Anne