Study suggests that shape of the brain linked to human personality,

A new research has shown that personality traits such as moodiness or open-mindedness are partly determined by the shape of one's brain.

Researchers said they found a striking connection between structural brain differences and five main personality types.

"The shape of our brain can itself provide surprising clues about how we behave -- and our risk of developing mental health disorders," said a statement from the University of Cambridge, which took part in the study.

Psychologists have previously broken down human personality into the "big five" traits - neuroticism (how moody a person is), extraversion (a person's level of enthusiasm), open-mindedness, agreeableness (a measure of altruism) and conscientiousness (a measure of self control).

Individuals with "open" personalities linked to curiosity and creativity show an opposite pattern.
The outer layer, or cortex, of their brains is thinner and more folded in certain regions with a greater surface area.

The new findings showed that personality might be the result of the brain's general structure as well as its circuitry.

More than 500 volunteers aged 22 to 36 took part in the international study and had brain imaging scans.
Researchers focused on the anatomy of the cortex-the wrinkly outer layer of the brain also known as grey matter, where the higher functions that make us human are centred.

Specifically it focussed on combinations of thickness, surface area, and the number of folds in different people.

"We found that neuroticism... was linked to a thicker cortex and a smaller area and folding in some brain regions," said study co-author Roberta Riccelli of Italy's Magna Graecia University.

Conversely, openness, "was associated with a thinner cortex and greater area and folding".

The team said, Neuroticism, was a trait underlying mental illnesses such as anxiety disorders, whereas "openness" reflects curiosity and creativity.

The deep folds in the human brain were the evolutionary solution to fitting such a large, super-computer into a relatively small skull.

"Evolution has shaped our brain anatomy in a way that maximises its area and folding at the expense of reduced thickness of the cortex, said Dr Luca Passamonti, a member of the British, US and Italian team from Cambridge University,

"It's like stretching and folding a rubber sheet - this increases the surface area, but at the same time the sheet itself becomes thinner. We refer to this as the 'cortical stretching hypothesis'."

Cortical stretching has allowed the human brain to expand rapidly without becoming too big for our skulls.
The process was said to begin in the womb and continue throughout childhood and adolescence into adulthood.

At the same time, neuroticism decreases as we get older and we become better at handling emotions.

In contrast, the traits of conscientiousness and agreeableness grow more pronounced with age. As a result, people tend to become more responsible and less antagonistic as they get older.

Press Association