1. Physiological Perspective

2. Physiological Perspective
Types of measures
Sampling of Research Topics
Eysenck, Gray: Extraversion
Zukerman: Senation-Seeking
Cloninger: Neurotransmitters
Davidson: Brain Asymmetry
Amodio: Political Brain

3. Phineas Gage (1850s) Dynamite accident Changes in personality
Frontal lobe insights
Executive functions
Emotion regulation
Impulsivity, planning

6. Orbital-frontal Cortex

7. Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex

8. Anterior Cingulate Cortex

9. 3 Frontal Lobe Clinical Syndromes
Dorsolateral (Cognition)
Working memory, decision-making, reasoning
Orbital-frontal (Emotion)
irritabilty, anger, low empathy
Anterior Cingulate (Motiv)
apathy

10. ADD Symptom Clusters Attention deficit Impulsivity
Concentration problems
Easily distracted
Sloppy, disorganized
Impulsivity
Get into fights
Stubborn, strong-willed
3) Emotion disregulation
feel guilty, feel angry

11. ADD relation to Big Five

12. ADD relation to Big FiveM
ADHD
Controls

13. Amygdala Hippocampus Basal Ganglia Accumbens Hoogman et al. (2017)
Brain Volume and ADHD
Hoogman et al. (2017)
Amygdala
Hippocampus
Basal Ganglia
Accumbens
Meta-analysis of approx 3,000 (half controls, half persons diagnosed with ADHD) individuals.
Main finding was reduced size in several subcortical brain regions.

14. 170 AD: Galen’s 4 Humors Blood sanguine happy
Bodily fluids  personality (170 AD) (Hippocrates, 400BC)
Phlegm phlegmatic calm
Blood sanguine happy
Yellow Bile choleric excitable
Black Bile melancholy unhappy

15. 1809 Phrenology: Francis Gall
Traits=bumps
Bump=more brain tissue
Pseudoscience
Brain? Localization of of function—yes.
Cranial bumps? Wrong.

16. Sheldon’s Somatotype Theory (1940s)
Body shape  personality
Mesomorph
Athletic Dominant
Ectomorph
Slight Introverted
Endomorph
Rotund Jolly

17. Physiological Measures
Polygraph
“Meet the Fockers” (2004)

18. Electrodermal Activity (EDA)
Derma= skin
Sweat conducts electricity (“GSR”)
Sweating due to Sympathetic Arousal
Emotional arousal (pain, anxiety, fear, guilt…)
Elevated baseline EDA & personality:
Neuroticism

19. Lying & Sympathetic Arousal
Ancient Arabia
lick hot iron… if burn tongue, you are lying.
Ancient China & India
chew rice powder, spit out… if dry, you are lying.
Sympathetic arousal
inhibit digestion (e.g. saliva  )
activate metabolism respiration  heart rate  ventilation 

20. Cardiovascular activity
Blood pressure —measure of stress reactivity
Heart rate —increases with anxiety, fear, arousal, cognitive effort

21. Cardiovascular activity
Cardiac reactivity
greater than normal increase in blood pressure and heart rate in response to a challenge
Associated with Type A personality: (impatient + competitive + angry/hostile)
Cardiac reactivity & Type A is associated with elevated risk of coronary heart disease

22. Brain Activity Brain spontaneous electrical activity
Measure by electrodes on scalp (EEG)
Evoked Potential technique
Stimulus given, EEG measured
Evoked Auditory Potential (Auditory stimuli)
Evoked Visual Potentials (Visual Stimuli)
Waves patterns analyzed
Augmenting vs Reducing

23. P300 a positive electrical potential that reliably occurs 300 milliseconds after a stimulus

24. P300 Discovered in 1964 “Context updating” signature
Schizophrenia weak (abnormal amplitude)
Borderline Disorder
- delayed (abnormal latency)

25. P300 impulsiveness - longer latency creativity, openness, curiosity
“need for cognition” (intellectual curiosity)
- higher amplitude
P300a  novelty orienting
P300b  surprise orienting

26. Brain Imaging Mapping brain structure and function
Positron emission tomography (PET)
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
Deffusion Tensor Imaging
neural connectivity, mapping circuits

27. Canli et al (2001), fMRI
E: +pics
N: -pics

28. De Young et al. (2010)

29. Positron Emission Tomography

30. Neuroscience of extraversion
Johnson et al. (1999)
PET
9 low (I), 9 high (E)
resting state only
RESULTS
Thalamus I: ↑ Anterior, E: ↑ posterior
Insula I: ↑ Anterior, E: ↑ posterior
Broca’s Area I > E ( talking to yourself !!)
JOHNSON ET AL 1999
18 healthy Ss (aged yrs) positron emission tomography. Correlations of regional CEREBRAL BLOODFLOW with introversion/extraversion were calculated, and a three-dimensional map of those correlations was generated.
introversion was associated with increased blood flow in the frontal lobes and in the anterior thalamus.
anterior cingulate gyrus, the temporal lobes, and the posterior thalamus = extraversion.
The findings of the study lend support to the notion that introversion is associated with increased activity in frontal lobe regions. Moreover, the study suggests that individual differences in introversion and extraversion are related to differences in a fronto-striato-thalamic circuit.
Gale (46) speculated that introverts might engage in a running monologue in the absence of external stimulation. The observed increased blood flow in
Broca’s area in introverts might be interpreted as biological evidence of “self-talk.”
blood flow in the anterior insula is correlated with introversion, whereas blood flow in the posterior insula is correlated with extraversion.Recent studies of emotion have found that the anterior portion of the insula is activated when subjects recall or imagine events, whereas the posterior insula is activated by interpretation of current sensory information (49, 50). The distinction between an inward focus And an outward focus is very much the difference between
introverts and extraverts.

31. Neuroscience of spiritual feelings
Borg et al. (1999)

32. Neuroscience of spiritual feelings
Borg et al. (1999)
Measured “self-transcendence”
Measured serotonin receptor density
Conclusions
Weak serotonin binding
Weak gating of sensory stimuli [?]

33. Other Physiological Measures
Blood-born metabolites
Monoamine Oxidaze (MAO)
Immune system (e.g., saliva swabs)
e.g. Master et al. (2009) . . .
“Emotional Approach”

34. Emotional Approach Scale Master et al. (2009)
After a profoundly upsetting event, I take time to figure out what I’m really feeling
In especially trying circumstances, I delve into my feelings to get a thorough understanding of them
When dealing with unusual challenges, I realize that my feelings are valid and important
When coping with a really stressful experience, I acknowledge my emotions

35. Masters et al. (2009)
Higher scores on the emotional approach scale significantly predicted…
Stronger immune response to laboratory stressor (physiological challenge)
Reduced recovery time after heart surgery

36. Other Physiological Measures
Cortisol
Kagan & Snidman (1991)
Testosterone (Ts)
Dabbs & Dabbs (2000)
“crafty”, “sly”, “manipulative”

37. Hormones and Personality
Gender differences in personality
Agreeableness (d=.50)
Neuroticism (d=.50)
Large gender differences in testosterone
Indivdual differences in testosterone within sex aggressiveness ??

38. Testosterone and dominance
Masur et al, 1992
Post-victory surge
High Ts Jobs:
Trial Lawyer
Actors
Athletes
High Ts traits
Boastful, arrogant, devious

39. Testosterone and 2D:4D
Fetal testosterone levels influence length of third finger. Estrogen influences length of first finger.
Adult digit ratio is useful in research as a proxy for fetal Ts exposure levels
Gender differences exist in 2D4D: lower ratio in men.

40. Meindl et al. (2012) Testosterone and 2D:4D
2D4D is correlated with adult facial masculinity.
17 boys, aged 3-11.
Facial dimensions recorded.
Data used to construct computer model of 2D4D effects on facial shape.

41. Meindl et al. (2012) 2D:4D

42. Testosterone and 2D:4D
Most consistent personality correlates of Low 2D4D:
Sensation-Seeking
Impulsiveness
Aggression
Interpersonal dominance / boldness
Psychopathy
However, the associations are typically not very strong in magnitude and often fail to replicate.

43. Physiological Perspective
Measures
Theories
Eysenck, Gray: Extraversion
Zukerman: Senation-Seeking
Oxley / Amodio: Political Brain
Cloninger: Neurotransmitters
Davidson: Brain Asymmetry

44. Physiological-Based Dimensions of Personality
Extraversion-Introversion
Eysenck’s Theory:
Introverts are characterized by higher levels of activity in the brain’s ascending reticular activating system.  ARAS

45. Ascending Reticular Activating System
1950s: ARAS controls amount of Cortical Arousal

46. Yerkes-Dodson Law: Optimal Arousal for a Task

47. Extraversion-Introversion
When given a choice, extraverts prefer higher levels of stimulation than introverts
Classic study by Russ Geen (1984)
Compared Extrav (E) and Introv (I)
Noise level preferences
Autonomic reactvity

48. Geen (1984) Learning task Distracting noise over headphones
Hi E, Low E subjects
Noise level chosen by Self, Intr, Extr
Measure stress reactions (physio)

49. Extraversion-Introversion
Geen (1984)
Introverts and extraverts perform task…
Best under their own chosen stimulation level
Poorest under level chosen by opposite personality

50. Eysenck’s Theory of E No baseline differences in arousal.
Revised theory:
Extraversion-Introversion=
Differences in arousal reactivity, not average levels of arousal

51. Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (Gray, 1972; 1990)
Jeffrey Gray, biopsychologist (rats)
Alternative theory of Extr and Neur
Focuses on two different brain systems:
Beh Activation System BAS
Beh Inhibition System BIS

52. Approach
Avoidance

53. Sensitivity to Reward and Punishment
Behavioral Activation System (BAS):
Sensitive to reward cues
Activate/Energize/Get
Personality? impulsive
Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS)
Sensitive to threat cues
Inhibit/Stop/Evaluate
Personality? Anxious

54. Integration of Gray and Eysenck theories
Impulsive =High extraversion, moderate neuroticism
Anxious =Moderate introversion, high neuroticism

55. Gray’s Rotation of Eysenck
BAS
BIS N E

56. But data supports a closer alignment to Eysenck
BIS N
BAS E

57. Larsen, Chen, Zelenski (2003)
Learning task (fast colour naming)
Manipulate type of trial feedback:
Punishment for wrong answer
Reward for correct answer
Measure BAS and BIS traits.
RESULT?
BIS people did better in punishment condition
BAS people did better in reward condition

58. Size of bets placed after punishment vs reward
Pierce-McCall & Newman (1986)
IV= won versus lost.
DV= Size of bet on next task.
Result:
After gain: E = I
After loss: E > I

59. Physiological Perspective
Measures
Theories
Eysenck, Gray: Extraversion
Zukerman: Senation-Seeking
Oxley / Amodio: Political Brain
Cloninger: Neurotransmitters
Davidson: Brain Asymmetry

60. Sensation Seeking Marvin Zuckerman 1970s-80s
Sensory deprivation studies: Extraversion
Hebb’s Optimal Level of Arousal theory
SSSK =Diff in optimal level of arousal
Zuckerman’s Sensation Seeking Scale
Moderate positive correlation between extraversion and sensation seeking

61. Boredom Susceptibility Thrill and Adventure Seeking
Sensation-seeking
4 factors (DEBT)
Disinhibition
Experience-Seeking
Boredom Susceptibility
Thrill and Adventure Seeking

62. Sensation Seeking Physiological basis for sensation seeking
Monoamine Oxidase (MAO)
Enzyme that regulates neurotransmitters
After neurotransmitter binds to receptor need to stop it somehow
MAO puts the brakes on (at the receptor)

63. Sensation Seeking Physiological basis for sensation seeking
Too much MAO= strong braking
Too little MAO= weak braking
High SSK have low MAO
Stimulation seeking is due to weak synaptic braking

64. Cortical Evoked Potentials and Sensation-Seeking
Augmenting is evident among high SSkers
Reducing is evident among low SSkers

65. MAO, Child Abuse, and Antisocial Tendencies
Interaction of gene and child maltreatment experiences
Low MAO + maltreatment= high risk to become antisocial
Caspi et al (2002)

67. Physiological Perspective
Measures
Theories
Eysenck, Gray: Extraversion
Zukerman: Senation-Seeking
Oxley / Amodio: Political Brain
Cloninger: Neurotransmitters
Davidson: Brain Asymmetry