Sep 29, 2015 12:21 PM EDT By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

New research suggests that chimpanzees' personality traits are linked to the anatomy of specific brain structures.

Researchers at Georgia State University , the University of Texas and the University of Copenhagen found that both gray- matter volumes of various frontal cortex regions and gray-matter volume asymmetries (larger right versus left or vice versa) are associated with various personality traits, suggesting that the frontal cortex and asymmetries in this region of the brain play an important role in the neurobiological foundation of broad personality traits.

"Our results confirm the importance of neuroscientific approaches to the study of basic personalities and suggest that when compared to humans many of these associations are comparable in chimpanzees," researcher Robert Latzman, assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Georgia State, said in a statement.

For the study, researchers collected and analyze data from more than 100 chimpanzees' brains using magnetic resonance image (MRI) scans and also assessed each chimpanzee's personality by using a 41-item personality questionnaire

Researchers found that chimpanzees who were rated as higher on dominance had larger gray-matter volumes in the left anterior cingulate cortex and right prefrontal cortex. Chimpanzees who rated higher on reactivity/unpredictability had higher gray-matter volumes in the right mesial prefrontal cortex.

Previous studies by this group suggest the existence of largely similar personality traits in humans and chimpanzees, but until this study, researchers had not explored the neuroanatomical basis of these traits in nonhuman primates.

The findings are detailed in the journal NeuroImage. 

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