title: Regional gray matter density is associated with morningness-eveningness: Evidence from voxel-based morphometry.
abstract: Diurnal preference (morningness-eveningness) is known to be associated with several individual characteristics that are important in the fields of sociology, education, and psychiatry. Despite this importance, the anatomical correlates of individual differences in morningness-eveningness are unknown, and these were investigated in the present study. We used voxel-based morphometry and a questionnaire to determine individual morningness-eveningness and its association with brain structures in 432 healthy men and 344 healthy women (age, 20.7±1.8years). We demonstrated that morningness (less eveningness) was associated with (a) lower regional gray matter density (rGMD) in the precuneus and adjacent areas, (b) lower rGMD in the left posterior parietal cortex and adjacent areas, and (c) higher rGMD in the bilateral orbitofrontal cortex. Further, our exploratory analyses revealed that (d) higher rGMD in hypothalamic areas around the bilateral suprachiasmatic nuclei were associated with morningness. These findings demonstrate that variations in morningness-eveningness reflect the GM structures of focal regions across the cortex, and suggest a structural basis for individual morningness-eveningness and its association with a wide range of psychological variables distributed across different GM areas of the brain.
authors.affiliation: Division of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan. Electronic address: takehi@idac.tohoku.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hikaru
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
authors.affiliation: Division of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan; Division of Medical Neuroimaging Analysis, Department of Community Medical Supports, Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan; Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Taki
authors.affiliation: Division of Medical Neuroimaging Analysis, Department of Community Medical Supports, Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan; Department of Functional Brain Imaging, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sekiguchi
authors.affiliation: Human and Social Response Research Division, International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nouchi
authors.affiliation: Smart Ageing International Research Center, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kotozaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Functional Brain Imaging, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Seishu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Functional Brain Imaging, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Carlos Makoto
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Miyauchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Functional Brain Imaging, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Kunio
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iizuka
authors.affiliation: Department of Functional Brain Imaging, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Ryoichi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
authors.affiliation: Department of Functional Brain Imaging, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Takamitsu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shinada
authors.affiliation: Department of Functional Brain Imaging, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Functional Brain Imaging, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Sugiko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hanawa
authors.affiliation: Smart Ageing International Research Center, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Tsuyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Araki
authors.affiliation: Division of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hashizume
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Keiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kunitoki
authors.affiliation: Division of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sassa
authors.affiliation: Division of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan; Department of Functional Brain Imaging, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan; Smart Ageing International Research Center, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Ryuta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kawashima
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D013493:Suprachiasmatic Nucleus / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Brain structure; Chronotype; Orbitofrontal cortex; Precuneus; Voxel-based morphometry