Personality Neuroscience Flashcards
What are the two metatraits of the Big Five? and what subtraits do they contain?
Plasticity: extraversion and openness
Stability: emotional stability (neuroticism), agreeableness and conscientiousness.
What are the hormones associated with the stability traits?
They are associated with serotonin and its associated neural system, as they are about moderating emotions and reach happy compromises.
What hormone is related to the plasticity traits?
They are associated with dopamine and its associated systems.
What is the structure and hormones associated with extraversion?
The midbrain and the amygdala
Endorphins and dopamine
Why does the relation between dopamine and pleasure arises?
Because the dopaminergic system stimulates the release of endogenous opiates (endorphins)
What is the brain structure and hormones associated with neuroticism?
The amygdala, whoever its relation is contingent on other variables such as stressfulness and social support.
Hypothalamus
Serotonin (or lack of), norepinephrine and cortisol.
How is the amygdala related to neuroticism?
The amygdala, when aroused with threat of danger, signals to the hypothalamus to release cortisol. The stress hormone is good short-term but has severe implications long-term.
What are the structures and hormones associated with conscientiousness?
Frontal cortex and insula
Serotonin
How is the prefrontal cortex associated with conscientiousness?
Conscientiousness is all about delaying gratification and guiding behavior toward complex future goals, planning, self-restraint and insight are all very uniquely human, such is the prefrontal cortex.
What is the insula?
The insula is a structure deep within the brain that is involved, amongst other functions, in generating distracting impulses, pain and addiction.
What are two brain processes and its structures associated with agreeableness?
Mentalizing, understanding what others are thinking and empathy, understanding how others are feeling. They are both associated with thicker cortexes or larger insulas.
What are hormones associated with agreeableness?
Serotonin and testosterone.
What are the structure and hormones associated with openness?
Prefrontal cortex and dopamine
What is a prefrontal leucotomy?
A psychosurgery in which small areas of white matter behind the frontal lobes were deliberately damaged.
What is prefrontal lobotomy?
A psychosurgery that involves scooping out whole sectors of the frontal lobes.
What is the nucleus accumbens?
Neural structure that is part of the dopaminergic system, it responds to reward with the experience of pleasure.
What are neurotransmitters?
Chemicals that allow two neurons to communicate.
What is Eysenck’s big 3 model?
Psychoticism (constrained by rules)
Extraversion
Neuroticism (reaction to stress)
What is the ARAS?
Ascending Reticular Activating System, an area that controls how much nervous system stimulation enters the brain, filters information and is related to the arousal activity and activation of the brain.
What is Eysenck’s theory of arousal?
The ARAS of introverts is open and lets in a lot of sensory information, thus they have a higher resting level of arousal, engaging in behaviors to minimize or reduce stimulation. Opposite for extravert.
What the revision of Eysenck’s theory of arousal?
Introvert and extraverts do NOT differ in resting levels of arousal, but they differ in arousability, how quickly and easily they respond to stimulation. The ARAS alone is not responsible for it.
What is the Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory?
Theory developed by Gray revising Eysenck’s work, it proposes two brain systems that explain individual differences in personality, the BIS/BAS theory.
What is the BIS and what is the BAS?
BIS- Behavioural Inhibition System, sensitivity to punishment, threat and novel stimuli
BAS- Behavioural Activation System, sensitivity to rewards
One is a model of avoidance and the other of approach, introvert and extravert
What are the hormones associated with the BIS/BAS?
BIS- serotonin
BAS- dopamine
What is dopamine?
Neurotransmitter associated with motivation, reward sensitivity, control of body movements, pleasure and novelty-seeking. Low levels cause impulsivity and even Parkinson’s.
What is serotonin?
Neurotransmitter associated with inhibiting emotional impulses, low levels associated with rejection sensitivity and chronic anxiety.
What are hormones?
Chemical messengers that are produced in one location and act in another.
What is epinephrine and norepinephrine?
They are hormones and neurotransmitters that relate to stress and the flight-or-fight response.
What is the testosterone?
Hormone and neurotransmitter associated with competitive behaviors, impulsivity, energy and sex drive. Both a cause and an effect of behavior.
What is the cortisol?
Hormone and neurotransmitter associated physical or psychological stress, it prepares the body for sustained action.
Higher resting levels and reactivity associated with neuroticism, low levels with psychopathy.
What is personality neuroscience?
The study of persistent individual differences in the general population using neuroscientific methods.
What is phrenology?
Pseudoscience that involved the study of bumps on the skull to link the area to personality traits.
