Toward a Neural Model of the Openness-Psychoticism Dimension: Functional Connectivity in the Default and Frontoparietal Control Networks

Abstract

Psychosis proneness has been linked to heightened Openness to Experience and to cognitive deficits. Openness and psychotic disorders are associated with the default and frontoparietal networks, and the latter network is also robustly associated with intelligence. We tested the hypothesis that functional connectivity of the default and frontoparietal networks is a neural correlate of the openness-psychoticism dimension. Participants in the Human Connectome Project (N = 1003) completed measures of psychoticism, openness, and intelligence. Resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to identify intrinsic connectivity networks. Structural equation modeling revealed relations among personality, intelligence, and network coherence. Psychoticism, openness, and especially their shared variance were related positively to default network coherence and negatively to frontoparietal coherence. These associations remained after controlling for intelligence. Intelligence was positively related to frontoparietal coherence. Research suggests that psychoticism and openness are linked in part through their association with connectivity in networks involving experiential simulation and cognitive control. We propose a model of psychosis risk that highlights roles of the default and frontoparietal networks. Findings echo research on functional connectivity in psychosis patients, suggesting shared mechanisms across the personality-psychopathology continuum.