We studied changes in human EEGs related to presentation of olfactory stimuli (smells of essential oils) and dependence of such rearrangements on the level of extroversion/introversion typical of the tested subject. It was shown that this feature of personality noticeably influences the pattern of odorant-induced changes in EEG. Persons with a predominance of introversion were characterized by higher levels of nonspecific activation of the brain related to perception of olfactory stimuli, which was manifested in a decrease in the power of low-frequency EEG components in the parietal, occipital, and temporal cerebral cortices. The pattern of the rise in coherence level of high-frequency spectrum range oscillations directed toward caudal leads is considered a manifestation of intensification of the intrinsic associative processes. In individuals with a predominance of extroversion, we observed, on the whole, smaller levels of nonspecific cerebral activation upon the action of olfactory stimulation. The fronto-parietal pattern of spatial EEG synchronization is indicative of the development of sensory-analytical processes related to perception of external information. In general, our data agree with the interpretation of such a psychological parameter as extroversion/introversion.
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Neirofiziologiya/Neurophysiology, Vol. 42, No. 1, pp. 70–77, January-February, 2010.
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Cherninskii, A.A., Piskorskaya, N.G., Zima, I.G. et al. Individual/Typological Peculiarities of EEG Rearrangements in Humans Related to the Analysis of Olfactory Information: Role of Extroversion/Introversion. Neurophysiology 42, 63–69 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11062-010-9132-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11062-010-9132-x