Association between reduced extraversion and right posterior fusiform gyrus gray matter reduction in chronic schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVE The authors examined the association between volume of the fusiform gyrus, a region involved in face processing, and the personality trait of extraversion in patients with schizophrenia. METHOD Male patients (N=24) and age-matched male comparison subjects (N=26) completed NEO Five-Factor Inventory personality measures of extraversion and underwent high-spatial-resolution magnetic resonance imaging of anterior and posterior fusiform gyrus gray matter. RESULTS Low extraversion scores were significantly correlated with gray matter volume reductions in the right posterior fusiform gyrus for patients but not comparison subjects. CONCLUSIONS Reduced right posterior fusiform gyrus volume may contribute to disease-related social disturbances, characterized by both low extraversion and reduced sensitivity to human faces.