title: Emotional intelligence moderates the relationship between regional gray matter volume in the bilateral temporal pole and critical thinking disposition.
abstract: Critical thinking enables people to form sound beliefs and provides a basis for emotional life. Research has indicated that individuals with better critical thinking disposition can better recognize and regulate their emotions, though the neuroanatomical mechanisms involved in this process remain to be elucidated. Further, the influence of emotional intelligence on the relationship between brain structure and critical thinking disposition has not been examined. The present study utilized voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to investigate the neural structures underlying critical thinking disposition in a large sample of college students (N = 296). Regional gray matter volume (rGMV) in the bilateral temporal pole, which reflects an individual's ability to process social and emotional information, was negatively correlated with critical thinking disposition. In addition, rGMV in bilateral para hippocampal regions -regions involved in contextual association/emotional regulation-exhibited negative correlation with critical thinking disposition. Further analysis revealed that emotional intelligence moderated the relationship between rGMV of the temporal pole and critical thinking disposition. Specifically, critical thinking disposition was associated with decreased GMV of the temporal pole for individuals who have relatively higher emotional intelligence rather than lower emotional intelligence. The results of the present study indicate that people who have higher emotional intelligence exhibit more effective and automatic processing of emotional information and tend to be strong critical thinkers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Southwest University, No. 2, TianSheng Road, Beibei district, Chongqing, 400715, China.
authors.forename: Xiaonan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Southwest University, No. 2, TianSheng Road, Beibei district, Chongqing, 400715, China.
authors.forename: Shuge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Southwest University, No. 2, TianSheng Road, Beibei district, Chongqing, 400715, China.|Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Ministry of Education, Department of Psychology, Southwest University, No. 2, TianSheng Road, Beibei district, Chongqing, 400715, China.
authors.forename: Wenjing
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Southwest University, No. 2, TianSheng Road, Beibei district, Chongqing, 400715, China.|Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Ministry of Education, Department of Psychology, Southwest University, No. 2, TianSheng Road, Beibei district, Chongqing, 400715, China.
authors.forename: Qunlin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Southwest University, No. 2, TianSheng Road, Beibei district, Chongqing, 400715, China.|Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Ministry of Education, Department of Psychology, Southwest University, No. 2, TianSheng Road, Beibei district, Chongqing, 400715, China.
authors.forename: Dongtao
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Southwest University, No. 2, TianSheng Road, Beibei district, Chongqing, 400715, China.
authors.forename: Yuling
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Southwest University, No. 2, TianSheng Road, Beibei district, Chongqing, 400715, China.
authors.forename: Lijie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Southwest University, No. 2, TianSheng Road, Beibei district, Chongqing, 400715, China. qiuj318@swu.edu.cn.|Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Ministry of Education, Department of Psychology, Southwest University, No. 2, TianSheng Road, Beibei district, Chongqing, 400715, China. qiuj318@swu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Southwest University, No. 2, TianSheng Road, Beibei district, Chongqing, 400715, China. yangd@swu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D056348:Emotional Intelligence; D005260:Female; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size; D010551:Personality; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D013850:Thinking; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Critical thinking; Emotional intelligence; Gray matter volume; Temporal pole; Voxel-based morphometry