Resting EEG signatures of agentic extraversion: New results and meta-analytic integration

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

“…However, our recent meta-analysis of all the available data demonstrated that the link between aE/trait-BAS and left versus right resting frontal cortical activity (i.e., right vs. left resting frontal inhibitory alpha activity) is considerably weaker and less consistent than was initially hoped (Wacker, Chavanon, & Stemmler, 2010). Instead, accumulating evidence suggests that the posterior-anterior distribution of resting EEG activity (Hewig, Hagemann, Seifert, Naumann, & Bartussek, 2004Knyazev, 2009), particularly in the delta and theta frequency range (Koehler et al, 2010;Wacker & Gatt, 2010), is consistently associated with traits from the extraversion spectrum.…”

Midline theta dissociates agentic extraversion and anhedonic depression

“…Third, in line with DA having a strong association with neurobiological processing of performance-feedback and rewards (Holroyd & Coles, 2002;Schultz, 1998), anhedonia (Liu et al, 2014) and agency (Lange, Leue, & Beauducel, 2012; have been linked to altered electrophysiological signatures of feedback processing, which are known to be sensitive to DA levels (Mueller, Burgdorf, Chavanon, Schweiger, Hennig, et al, 2014;Santesso et al, 2009). Finally, a correlation of anhedonia and agency in a small healthy sample of an unpublished study was noted (Wacker, Chavanon, & Stemmler, 2010), suggesting that the two constructs covary at the level of behavioral self-reports in nondepressed participants. In spite of these converging lines of evidence, it has not yet been explicitly tested whether agency relates to symptoms of anhedonia in currently depressed individuals.…”

“…In addition to feedback-evoked theta, the FzPz index, a feedback-independent measure of frontal versus parietal theta topography is a potentially relevant marker as it has been consistently associated with agency and shown to be modulated by DA (Chavanon, Wacker, & Stemmler, 2011;Wacker et al, 2006Wacker et al, , 2010. Whether the FzPz index relates to anhedonia has not yet been tested, although there is some evidence for altered theta activity in healthy individuals with high vs. low anhedonia (Wacker, Dillon, & Pizzagalli, 2009).…”

Eye contact reveals a relationship between Neuroticism and anterior EEG asymmetry

“…Such findings have been explained by associating relative left-sided frontal brain activity with approach and relative right-sided activity with avoidance motivation (Davidson, 1992;Davidson et al, 1990). Intriguingly, however, findings from studies investigating the relationships between asymmetric activity patterns and personality traits that are conceptually related to approach and avoidance have been inconsistent (Schmidtke and Heller, 2004;Wacker, Chavanon and Stemmler, 2010). The present study tests two potential solutions for this problem.…”

“…One culprit behind the mixed results may be related to the experimental conditions while measuring EEG asymmetry (for further details, see Coan et al, 2006;Wacker et al, 2010). Traditionally, asymmetry scores are computed from the EEG data collected during a minimally stimulating resting state.…”