title: Highways of the emotional intellect: white matter microstructural correlates of an ability-based measure of emotional intelligence.
abstract: Individuals differ in their ability to understand emotional information and apply that understanding to make decisions and solve problems effectively - a construct known as Emotional Intelligence (EI). While considerable evidence supports the importance of EI in social and occupational functioning, the neural underpinnings of this capacity are relatively unexplored. We used Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS) to determine the white matter correlates of EI as measured by the ability-based Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT). Participants included 32 healthy adults (16 men; 16 women), aged 18-45 years. White matter integrity in key tracts was positively correlated with the Strategic Area branches of the MSCEIT (Understanding Emotions and Managing Emotions), but not the Experiential branches (Perceiving and Facilitating Emotions). Specifically, the Understanding Emotions branch was associated with greater fractional anisotropy (FA) within somatosensory and sensory-motor fiber bundles, particularly those of the left superior longitudinal fasciculus and corticospinal tract. Managing Emotions was associated with greater FA within frontal-affective association tracts including the anterior forceps and right uncinate fasciculus, along with frontal-parietal cingulum and interhemispheric corpus callosum tracts. These findings suggest that specific components of EI are directly related to the structural microarchitecture of major axonal pathways.
authors.affiliation: a Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory , University of Arizona College of Medicine , Tucson , AZ , USA.
authors.forename: Derek A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Pisner
authors.affiliation: a Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory , University of Arizona College of Medicine , Tucson , AZ , USA.
authors.forename: Ryan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: a Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory , University of Arizona College of Medicine , Tucson , AZ , USA.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alkozei
authors.affiliation: a Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory , University of Arizona College of Medicine , Tucson , AZ , USA.
authors.forename: Aleksandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Klimova
authors.affiliation: a Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory , University of Arizona College of Medicine , Tucson , AZ , USA.|b Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory, McLean Hospital , Harvard Medical School , Belmont , MA , USA.
authors.forename: William D S
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Killgore
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D056348:Emotional Intelligence; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011581:Psychological Tests; D066127:White Matter / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Emotional intelligence; diffusion tensor imaging; tract-based spatial statistics