The association of gray matter volumes in the frontoparietal attention network with temperamental effortful control in young adults: A voxel-based morphometry study

• The neural basis of effortful control (EC) was examined by voxel-based morphometry.
• EC positively correlates with gray matter volumes in the frontoparietal network.
• The results have implications for understanding vulnerabilities to psychopathology.

Structural MRI studies have identified a link between cortical maturation and temperamental effortful control (EC), which is a trait-like risk factor for psychopathology during adolescence. However, little research has explored the underlying neural basis of EC in adults. We aimed to examine the relationship between EC and brain structure in young adults. High-resolution T1-weighted images were acquired from 27 undergraduates who completed the Adult Temperament Questionnaire-short form. The data were analyzed with SPM8 using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). A priori region of interest (ROI) analyses indicated that EC was positively associated with gray matter volumes in brain regions that included the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the left supplementary motor area, the right orbitofrontal cortex, the left anterior cingulate cortex, and the left superior and inferior parietal lobes. These results suggest that temperamental EC in young adults is related to variations in gray matter volumes, particularly within the frontoparietal attention network, and yield insight into the relation between the vulnerability to psychopathology and the neurobiological basis of individual differences in temperamental EC.