Personality is known to influence cognitive and affective functioning as well as the risk of psychiatric disorders. Exploration of the neurobiological correlates of personality traits has the potential to enhance understanding of their significance in development of related psychopathological states. The authors examined the association between individual differences in neuroticism and brain activity in response to threat of electric shocks. The observations support recent psychophysiological research that has demonstrated reduced processing of pain in subjects with higher levels of neuroticism, especially the anxiety component of this trait.