Brain activity associated with personality

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.