Abstract:
People have long been fascinated about the association
between brain activity and the shaping of personality
and behaviour. Given our interest in the brain, it is not
surprising that there have been numerous studies that
have investigated the relationship between personality
and the properties of the brains' electrical activity. Our
initial investigation between the personality trait
introversion-extraversion and alpha (8-13Hz) brain
waves found strong differences between people who
are introverted compared to those who are extraverted
in terms of their frontal 8-13 Hz amplitude reactivity.
Extraverted persons in the sample were at least 3 times
more likely to have larger amplitude in the 8-13 Hz
frequency spectra. This study broadens the
investigation to include personality traits of the fivefactor
model using the NEO-five-factor Inventory
(NEO-FFI) and its association with resting brain
activity. The NEO-ffI traits (especially Extraversion)
were associated with lower frequency brain activity in
both males and females. The NEO traits were found to
explain small, though significant contributions to brain
wave activity variance. The magnitude of these
contributions was around 7% for delta wave activity
and about 5% for theta wave activity.
