Review and Integration of Neurobiological Evidence on the Metatrait of Plasticity within the Cybernetic Big Five Theory: From Regional Correlates to Brain Network Organization
Keywords:
Plasticity, Cybernetic Five-Factor Theory of Personality, Personality Metatraits, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Neural Networks, Brain Network Organization, Personality NeuroscienceAbstract
Objective: The aim of this study was to conceptualize and integrate neuroscientific evidence related to the metatrait of Plasticity within the Cybernetic Big Five Theory by synthesizing findings on Extraversion, Openness/Intellect, and large-scale brain networks.
Methods and Materials: A review–analytical approach was employed to synthesize evidence from cognitive neuroscience, neuroimaging research, and personality neuroscience studies related to Extraversion and Openness to Experience; findings were examined at regional and network levels considering task context, processing stage, functional connectivity patterns, and individual differences, and were organized within the cybernetic personality framework.
Findings: Inferential results indicated that Extraversion is primarily associated with reward and valuation circuits with context-dependent and small effect sizes, whereas Openness to Experience is more consistently linked to frontoparietal cognitive systems and interactions between the default mode and frontoparietal control networks; at the integrative level, Plasticity emerged not as a localized neural marker but as a dynamic interaction among the default mode, frontoparietal, and salience networks, reflecting state-dependent personality–brain relationships.
Conclusion: Plasticity can be interpreted as a network-based capacity for behavioral and cognitive exploration supported by flexible reconfiguration of motivational and control systems, suggesting that personality metatraits arise from dynamic multi-network interactions rather than fixed neural signatures.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Farshid Rahmanian (Author); Bita Nasrollahi; Hooman Namvar (Author)
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