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Extraversion and anterior vs. posterior DMN activity during self-referential thoughts.

Gennady G Knyazev¹

¹Institute of Physiology, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Medical Sciences Novosibirsk, Russia.

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

|February 20, 2013

Summary

Personality traits like extraversion link to brain activity patterns. Self-referential thoughts in extraverts correlate with posterior default mode network (DMN) activity, while introverts show anterior DMN activity.

Keywords:

EEG alpha oscillations default mode network extraversion independent component analysis

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Psychology
Cognitive Science

Background:

Electroencephalogram (EEG) spectral power distribution is linked to personality traits.
Extraversion correlates with increased posterior cortical and decreased anterior cortical activity, overlapping with default mode network (DMN) hubs.
The underlying psychological mechanisms, potentially involving spontaneous self-referential thoughts, are not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the relationship between personality, brain activity in anterior and posterior DMN hubs, and spontaneous self-referential thoughts.
To test the hypothesis that extraverts associate self-referential thoughts with posterior DMN activity, and introverts with anterior DMN activity.

Main Methods:

Participants underwent spontaneous electroencephalogram (EEG) registration.
Source localization and independent component analyses were used to examine DMN hub activity.
A questionnaire measured individual differences in self-referential positive expectations (SRPE).
Hierarchical regression analysis explored interactions between personality, DMN activity, and SRPE.

Main Results:

A significant interaction was found between extraversion scores and anterior vs. posterior DMN alpha activity in predicting SRPE.
Extraverts with high SRPE showed increased alpha power in the posterior DMN hub.
Introverts with high SRPE showed increased alpha power in the anterior DMN hub.

Conclusions:

Spontaneous self-referential thoughts differentially engage anterior and posterior DMN hubs based on personality.
These findings suggest distinct roles for DMN hubs in self-related reward processing in extraverts and introverts.
This research provides insight into the neural underpinnings of personality differences in self-referential cognition.