Mechanical properties of the cortex in older adults and relationships with personality traits

Twohy, Krya E., Kramer, Mary K., Diano, Alexa M., Bailey, Olivia M., Delgorio, Peyton L., McIlvain, Grace, McGarry, Matthew D.J., Martens, Christopher R., Schwarb, Hillary, Hiscox, Lucy V. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6296-7442 and Johnson, Curtis L. 2025. Mechanical properties of the cortex in older adults and relationships with personality traits. Human Brain Mapping 46 (2) , e70147. 10.1002/hbm.70147

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Abstract

Aging and neurodegeneration impact structural brain integrity and can result in changes to behavior and cognition. Personality, a relatively stable trait in adults as compared to behavior, in part relies on normative individual differences in cellular organization of the cerebral cortex, but links between brain structure and personality expression have been mixed. One key finding is that personality has been shown to be a risk factor in the development of Alzheimer’s disease, highlighting a structure-trait relationship. Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) has been used to non-invasively study age-related changes in tissue mechanical properties because of its high sensitivity to both the microstructural health and the structure-function relationship of the tissue. Recent advancements in MRE methodology have allowed for reliable property recovery of cortical subregions, which had previously presented challenges due to the complex geometry and overall thin structure. This study aimed to quantify age-related changes in cortical mechanical properties and the relationship of these properties to measures of personality in an older adult population (N=57; age 60-85 years) for the first time. Mechanical properties including shear stiffness and damping ratio were calculated for 30 bilateral regions of the cortex across all four lobes, and the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI) was used to measure neuroticism and conscientiousness in all participants. Shear stiffness and damping ratio were found to vary widely across regions of the cortex, upwards of 1 kPa in stiffness and by 0.3 in damping ratio. Shear stiffness changed regionally with age, with some regions experiencing accelerated degradation compared to neighboring regions. Greater neuroticism (i.e., the tendency to experience negative emotions and vulnerability to stress) was associated with high damping ratio, indicative of poorer tissue integrity, in the rostral middle frontal cortex and the precentral gyrus. This study provides evidence of structure-trait correlates between physical mechanical properties and measures of personality in older adults and adds to the supporting literature that neurotic traits may impact brain health in cognitively normal aging.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Psychology Research Institutes & Centres > Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC)
Publisher:	Wiley
ISSN:	1065-9471
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	3 February 2025
Date of Acceptance:	19 January 2025
Last Modified:	19 Feb 2025 10:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/175520

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