Investigating the dopaminergic basis of extraversion in humans: A multilevel approach.

Wacker, Jan; Chavanon, Mira‐Lynn; Stemmler, Gerhard

doi:10.1037/0022-3514.91.1.171

Cited by 153 publications

(164 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…In an initial test of this hypothesis, we indeed found not only that a simple index of resting posterior minus anterior EEG theta activity specifically correlated with trait aE, but also that this association was completely reversed after administration of the selective dopamine D2/D3 receptor antagonist sulpiride, supporting an association of this novel index with the presumed neurochemical basis of aE (Wacker et al, 2006). Meanwhile, we consistently observed a correlation between aE and posterior minus anterior EEG theta activity in six independent studies (total N > 1,500), collected in three different laboratories (Koehler et al, 2010;Wacker & Gatt, 2010).…”

Section: Agentic Extraversion and Posterior Versus Anterior Eeg Thetamentioning

confidence: 83%

“…Because the mental processes associated with the two types of theta rhythm are, at least in part, mutually exclusive, the activity in brain sources of frontal midline and parietal midline theta should also be reciprocally related. Thus, we proposed that the difference between frontal and parietal midline theta activity could capture a meaningful aspect of EEG theta activity in a single measure (Wacker, Chavanon, & Stemmler, 2006).…”

Section: Agentic Extraversion and Posterior Versus Anterior Eeg Thetamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To select participants either extremely high or low in aE, we recruited a pool of N = 422 male university or high school student volunteers to fill in a German Positive Emotionality short scale (the Marburg Agentic Extraversion [MAE] scale; for details, see Wacker et al, 2006). This scale contains three positively correlated 10-item primary scales corresponding to the MPQ scales (Tellegen & Waller, 2008) most relevant to positive emotionality (Well-Being, Achievement, and Social Potency; Cronbach's alpha for primary scales, α ≥ .82; for the total score, α = .88).…”

Section: Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Rostral anterior cingulate activity generates posterior versus anterior theta activity linked to agentic extraversion

Chavanon

Wacker

Stemmler

2010

Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci

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Recent research using the resting electroencephalogram (EEG) showed that posterior versus anterior theta activity (around 4-8 Hz) is consistently associated with agency, reflecting the dopaminergic core of extraversion (i.e., incentive motivation, positive emotion). Neuroimaging studies using various methodologies and experimental paradigms have converged on the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) as a neurophysiological correlate of extraversion. The aim of the present study is integrate these lines of research by testing the hypothesis that posterior versus anterior EEG theta is at least partly based on ACC theta activity. Resting EEG data were analyzed in N = 78 healthy, male participants extremely high or low in agentic extraversion (aE). Using the low-resolution electromagnetic tomography algorithm, we localized the sources of aE-dependent intracerebral theta activity within rostral subdivisions of the ACC. The posterior versus anterior index and theta current density within the rostral ACC were significantly correlated (r = -.52), and both displayed high retest stability across 5 hr and were associated with traits from the aE spectrum. These neurophysiological correlates of aE and their possible functional significance are discussed.

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Section: Agentic Extraversion and Posterior Versus Anterior Eeg Thetamentioning

confidence: 83%

Section: Agentic Extraversion and Posterior Versus Anterior Eeg Thetamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Rostral anterior cingulate activity generates posterior versus anterior theta activity linked to agentic extraversion

Chavanon

Wacker

Stemmler

2010

Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci

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“…It has been suggested that individual differences in extraversion evolve from differences in the functioning of dopaminergic systems (Depue & Collins, 1999). For example, extraversion was strongly correlated with changes in working memory (WM) performance using the n-back task, thought to be influenced by dopamine activity, following a dopamine agonist (Wacker, Chavanon, & Stemmler, 2006). Extraversion also correlated with reaction to a dopamine agonist, as measured by spontaneous eyeblink response (Depue, Luciana, Arbisi, Collins, & Leon, 1994).…”

Section: Ab Taskmentioning

confidence: 93%

Personality predicts temporal attention costs in the attentional blink paradigm

MacLean

Arnell

2010

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review

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Accuracy for a second target is reduced when it is presented within 500 msec of a first target. This phenomenon is called the attentional blink (AB). A diffused attentional state (via positive affect or an additional task) has been shown to reduce the AB, whereas a focused attentional state (via negative affect) has been shown to increase the AB, purportedly by influencing the amount of attentional investment and flexibility. In the present study, individual differences in personality traits related to positive affect, negative affect, and cognitive flexibility were used to predict individual differences in AB magnitude. As hypothesized, greater extraversion and openness predicted smaller ABs. Greater openness also predicted higher overall target accuracy. Greater neuroticism predicted larger ABs and lower overall target accuracy. Conscientiousness, associated with less cognitive flexibility, predicted lower overall target accuracy. Personality may modulate the AB by influencing overinvestment via dispositional tendencies toward more or less stringent or capable cognitive control.

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“…Prior research showing that people high in extraversion had more amygdala activity to happy faces may be reflecting enhanced amygdala response to the socially rewarding or novelty components of extraversion (Canli et al, 2002). Furthermore, people with high extraversion may respond more to reward incentives used to motivate behavior (Depue & Collins, 1999) especially in challenging circumstances (Lieberman & Rosenthal, 2001;Wacker, Chavanon, & Stemmler, 2006). Thus extraversion might be more related to operant conditioning rather than a classical conditioning paradigm, where rewards are not contingent on behavior, such our paradigm.…”

Section: Influence Of Personality On Observational Learningmentioning

confidence: 94%

The influence of personality on neural mechanisms of observational fear and reward learning

et al. 2008

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Fear and reward learning can occur through direct experience or observation. Both channels can enhance survival or create maladaptive behavior. We used fMRI to isolate neural mechanisms of observational fear and reward learning and investigate whether neural response varied according to individual differences in neuroticism and extraversion. Participants learned object-emotion associations by observing a woman respond with fearful (or neutral) and happy (or neutral) facial expressions to novel objects. The amygdala-hippocampal complex was active when learning the object-fear association, and the hippocampus was active when learning the object-happy association. After learning, objects were presented alone; amygdala activity was greater for the fear (vs. neutral) and happy (vs. neutral) associated object. Importantly, greater amygdalahippocampal activity during fear (vs. neutral) learning predicted better recognition of learned objects on a subsequent memory test. Furthermore, personality modulated neural mechanisms of learning. Neuroticism positively correlated with neural activity in the amygdala and hippocampus during fear (vs. neutral) learning. Low extraversion/high introversion was related to faster behavioral predictions of the fearful and neutral expressions during fear learning. In addition, low extraversion/high introversion was related to greater amygdala activity during happy (vs. neutral) learning, happy (vs. neutral) object recognition, and faster reaction times for predicting happy and neutral expressions during reward learning. These findings suggest that neuroticism is associated with an increased sensitivity in the neural mechanism for fear learning which leads to enhanced encoding of fear associations, and that low extraversion/high introversion is related to enhanced conditionability for both fear and reward learning.

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Investigating the dopaminergic basis of extraversion in humans: A multilevel approach.

Cited by 153 publications

References 77 publications

Rostral anterior cingulate activity generates posterior versus anterior theta activity linked to agentic extraversion

Rostral anterior cingulate activity generates posterior versus anterior theta activity linked to agentic extraversion

Personality predicts temporal attention costs in the attentional blink paradigm

The influence of personality on neural mechanisms of observational fear and reward learning

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