Similarity in functional connectome architecture predicts teenage grit

Abstract

Grit is a personality trait that encapsulates the tendency to persevere and maintain consistent interest for long-term goals. While prior studies found that grit predicts positive behavioral outcomes, there is a paucity of work providing explanatory evidence from a neurodevelopmental perspective. Based on previous research suggesting the utility of the functional connectome (FC) as a developmental measure, we tested the idea that individual differences in grit might be, in part, rooted in brain development in adolescence and emerging adulthood (N = 64, 11-19 years of age). Our analysis showed that grit was associated with connectome stability across conditions and connectome similarity across individuals. Notably, inter-subject representational similarity analysis revealed that teenagers who were grittier shared similar FC architecture with each other, more so than those with lower grit. Our findings suggest that individuals with high levels of grit are more likely to exhibit a converging pattern of whole-brain functional connectivity, which may underpin subsequent beneficial behavioral outcomes. © The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press.