Personality beyond the brain: a new perspective on the brain-gut-gonadal axis and human fertility.
8 affiliations
- 1Origyn Fertility Center, Iași, Romania.
- 2Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, "Grigore T. Popa", Iasi, Romania.
- 3Spitalul Clinic de Obstetrică și Ginecologie "Cuza Vodă", Iasi, Romania.
- 4Doctoral School of Biology, Faculty of Biology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, Iasi, Romania.
- 5Department Biology, Faculty of Biology, IASI, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (UAIC), City Iasi, Romania.
- 6Department of Urology, "Dr. C.I. Parhon" Clinical Hospital, Iasi, Romania.
- 7Sf. Spiridon Emergency Clinical Hospital of Iasi, Iasi, Romania.
- 8Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, "Grigore T. Popa" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iasi, Romania.
Abstract
Despite major advances in reproductive medicine, many cases of infertility remain unexplained. Hormonal, genetic, anatomical, and environmental factors have been extensively investigated, whereas the possible contribution of personality characteristics to reproductive physiology has received little attention. Throughout this review, personality refers to relatively consistent individual characteristics and should not be confused with temporary emotional states or acute psychological stress. Published evidence reports associations between personality characteristics and measures of autonomic and neuroendocrine regulation, gastrointestinal symptoms or function, sexual function, and reproductive health. However, the strength and type of evidence vary across these domains, and most findings are observational or associative rather than causal. Established biological pathways should therefore be distinguished from reported personality-related associations and from the hypothetical cross-system links proposed in this review. This Mini Review examines current evidence linking personality characteristics with autonomic and neuroendocrine regulation, the brain-gut axis, the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, sexual function, and fertility. Rather than proposing that internal organs possess personalities, we propose that shared neurobiological and neuroendocrine mechanisms may produce parallel functional response patterns that reflect an individual's personality characteristics. Finally, we propose that integrating these previously studied relationships within a Brain-Gut-Gonadal framework may provide a new perspective on the possible links between personality traits, sexual function, reproductive physiology, and unexplained infertility. This perspective does not imply that personality traits cause infertility, but raises the novel and testable possibility that personality-related biological differences may contribute to individual variation in reproductive physiology and fertility.
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BibTeX
@article{doroftei2026personality,
title = {{Personality beyond the brain: a new perspective on the brain-gut-gonadal axis and human fertility.}},
author = {Bogdan Doroftei and Ahmed Adel Mansour Kamar and Alin Ciobica and Dragos Puia and Mara Doroftei and David Puha and Bogdan Puha},
journal = {Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fnbeh.2026.1985122},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42948151},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Personality beyond the brain: a new perspective on the brain-gut-gonadal axis and human fertility.
AU - Bogdan Doroftei
AU - Ahmed Adel Mansour Kamar
AU - Alin Ciobica
AU - Dragos Puia
AU - Mara Doroftei
AU - David Puha
AU - Bogdan Puha
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/13
JO - Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience
DO - 10.3389/fnbeh.2026.1985122
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42948151
AB - Despite major advances in reproductive medicine, many cases of infertility remain unexplained. Hormonal, genetic, anatomical, and environmental factors have been extensively investigated, whereas the possible contribution of personality characteristics to reproductive physiology has received little attention. Throughout this review, personality refers to relatively consistent individual characteristics and should not be confused with temporary emotional states or acute psychological stress. Published evidence reports associations between personality characteristics and measures of autonomic and neuroendocrine regulation, gastrointestinal symptoms or function, sexual function, and reproductive health. However, the strength and type of evidence vary across these domains, and most findings are observational or associative rather than causal. Established biological pathways should therefore be distinguished from reported personality-related associations and from the hypothetical cross-system links proposed in this review. This Mini Review examines current evidence linking personality characteristics with autonomic and neuroendocrine regulation, the brain-gut axis, the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, sexual function, and fertility. Rather than proposing that internal organs possess personalities, we propose that shared neurobiological and neuroendocrine mechanisms may produce parallel functional response patterns that reflect an individual's personality characteristics. Finally, we propose that integrating these previously studied relationships within a Brain-Gut-Gonadal framework may provide a new perspective on the possible links between personality traits, sexual function, reproductive physiology, and unexplained infertility. This perspective does not imply that personality traits cause infertility, but raises the novel and testable possibility that personality-related biological differences may contribute to individual variation in reproductive physiology and fertility.
SN - 1662-5153
ER -