title: Reduced frontal cortex thickness and cortical volume associated with pathological narcissism.
abstract: Pathological narcissism is often characterized by arrogant behavior, a lack of empathy, and willingness to exploit other individuals. Generally, individuals with high levels of narcissism are more likely to suffer mental disorders. However, the brain structural basis of individual pathological narcissism trait among healthy people has not yet been investigated with surface-based morphometry. Thus, in this study, we investigated the relationship between cortical thickness (CT), cortical volume (CV), and individual pathological narcissism in a large healthy sample of 176 college students. Multiple regression was used to analyze the correlation between regional CT, CV, and the total Pathological Narcissism Inventory (PNI) score, adjusting for age, sex, and total intracranial volume. The results showed that the PNI score was significantly negatively associated with CT and CV in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC, key region of the central executive network, CEN), which might be associated with impaired emotion regulation processes. Furthermore, the PNI score showed significant negative associations with CV in the right postcentral gyrus, left medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), and the CT in the right inferior frontal cortex (IFG, overlap with social brain network), which may be related to impairments in social cognition. Together, these findings suggest a unique structural basis for individual differences in pathological narcissism, distributed across different gray matter regions of the social brain network and CEN.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China; Department of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China; Department of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
authors.forename: Na
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China; Department of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
authors.forename: Yongchao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China; Department of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China; Department of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China; Department of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
authors.forename: Dongtao
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China; Department of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
authors.forename: Jinfu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400715, China; Department of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China. Electronic address: qiuj318@swu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qiu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009289:Narcissism; D009929:Organ Size; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012649:Self Concept; D057566:Self Report; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; inferior frontal cortex; medial prefrontal cortex; pathological narcissism; surface-based morphometry