Behavioural and cognitive neuroscience
Personality:
Temperament: nature aspect of personality
Inclinations we are born with
Predisposition
Differences in strength driving underlying basis emotions (fear, anger, disgust, surprise)
Character: nurture aspect of personality
Emergent form developing through interaction of temperament and environment
Habits we acquire over our lifetime
Individual differences in a person’s goals and values
Disposition
Personality = a unique combination of universal building blocks
History:
4 humours:
Choleric (enthusiastic)
Melancholic (somber)
Sanguine (cheerful)
Phlegmatic (calm)
Keirsey’s 4 temperaments:
Guardians
Rationals
Idealists
Artisans
Trait theory: ‘The big five’
Extraversion: energy , positive emotions , …
Agreeableness: compassion and cooperation towards others
Conscientiousness: self-discipline, dutifulness
Neuroticism: tendency to experience unpleasant emotions easily
Openness: appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, …
Gordon W. Allport: psychologist
Omnibus definition: personality is everything that makes you an individual, integration and
interaction of your genetic inheritance and experiences
No guidance on how to distinguish different personalities
Trait or integrative/ configurational approach: trait is a behavioural trend resulting from experience
and expressing the genetic predisposition of the individuals reaction to its surroundings
Systems or hierarchical approach: personality contains 3 layers of components; the persona, the self
and the unconscious processes
Persona: external layers / mask you put on for different occasions
Self: private ego behind the mask that dominates conscious experience (tied to memories)
Unconscious processes: not accessible to conscious awareness
,C.R. Cloninger: psychiatrist + geneticist
Made microbiological model of personality
o Twin and familiy studies
o Longitudinal development studies
o Neuropharmacology studies
Tridimensional personality questionnaire:
Tridimensional personality questionnaire: studies 3 dimensions/traits of personality based on 100
true/false questions
Novelty seeking
Harm avoidance
Reward dependence
Disadvantages:
Poor differentiation between personality disorders
Neglects some personality disorders (paranoid , schizotypal personality)
Temperament and character inventory:
7-factor personality scale:
4 temperament factors: novelty seeking, harm avoidance, reward dependence,
persistence
3 character factors: self-directedness, cooperativeness, self-transcendence
TCI temperament cube:
Gaussian distribution: most behaviour is a balance between 2/more dimensions
Personality disorders: extreme high/low variants
Sex differences:
Harm avoidance + reward dependence: higher for women
Novelty seeking + persistence: equal for both sexes
Quantify personality traits:
Behavioural tests
Neurochemical analysis
Novelty seeking:
Heritable tendency: toward intense excitement in response to novel stimuli, cues for potential
rewards and relief of punishment
Behavioural activation:
Avoiding monotomy
Pursuit of potential rewards
Avoiding punishments
High novelty seeking: exploratory, adventure seeking, impulsivity, quickly distracted, …
Low novelty seeking: reflective, loyal, rigid, stoic, slow-tempered, introvert, persistent, …
Balance:
Risk taking spirit, openness to changes, optimism, excitement about exploration
Impulsiveness, extravagance, disorderliness, lack of focus
,Harm avoidance:
Heritable tendency: to respond intensely to aversive stimuli
Behavioural inhibition:
Avoid punishment
Avoid novelty
Avoid frustrative non-reward
Balance:
Cautiousness, careful planning
Fear of uncertainty, extreme shyness, perfectionism, anticipatory worry, difficulty to relax
Reward dependence:
Heritable tendency: to respond intensely to signals of reward (verbal approval signals, sentiment, relief, …)
Behavioural maintenance: to maintain behaviour that was previously associated with rewards
Balance:
Openness to warm communication, social sensitivity, attachment
Dependence on approval, sentimentality
Neurotransmission:
Dopaminergic system:
Novelty seeking: uses dopamine for behavioural activation
Dopaminergic pathways:
Nigrostriatal/ dorsal mesostriatal
Mesolimbic/ ventral mesostriatal
Mesolimbocortical
Mesodiencephalic
Nigrostriatal pathway: part of basal ganglia motor loop
Fluent coordination of limb movement
Degeneration in Parkinson’s disease
Ventral tegmental area:
→ Projections to limbic structures (hippocampus, amygdala, septum): important for regulation
of emotional behaviour
→ Projections to neocortex (medial frontal, anterior cingulate, entorhinal): for motivational behaviour
Dopamine agonists: stimulation of dopaminergic neurons used for pharmacological evidence
Increase of locomotor activity
Feeling of joy and satisfaction
Reinforcement of drug effects (addiction)
Dopamine antagonists: inhibition of dopaminergic neurons
Ignoring stimuli
Decrease spontaneous activity and speech (apathic behaviour)
Decrease of associative ability
Decrease of seeking behaviour
, Cholinergic system:
Basal forebrain nuclei: nucleus basalis of Meynert
Nucleus basalis of Meynert quickly affected in Alzheimer’s disease
Brain stem nuclei: mesopontine tegmentum area , pontomesencephalotegmental complex
Acetylcholine: important for cognitive tasks
Response to novel stimuli: arousal, attention, fear, stress, encoding novel stimuli
Environmental habituation (recognition): learning processes
Sleep
Noradrenergic system:
Reward dependence: uses noradrenaline for behavioural maintenance
Serotonergic system:
Harm avoidance: uses serotonin for behavioural inhibition
Neurotransmitter overview:
Catecholamines:
Precursor: DOPA
Neurotransmitters: noradrenaline, adrenaline, dopamine
Metabolite: DOPAC, HVA, MHPG
Indolamines:
Precursor: tryptophan
Neurotransmitters: serotonine
Metabolite: 5-HIAA
Behavioural tests:
Mice:
Novelty seeking: naturally curious animals that like to investigate their environment
Harm avoidance: mice avoid novel things as it could harm/endanger them
Holeboard test: amount of head dips and amount of different holes investigated measured
Canopy test: time spent in exposed zone VS time spent under canopy (roof)
Dark-light transition box: measure how quickly mouse enters bright compartment
and amount of time spent there
Elevated plus maze: time spent in closed arms VS time spent in open arms compared
Open field test: path followed and amount of time in centre VS time in corners compared
Result: more motor activity during the first exploration
Neurochemical analysis:
Homogenate:
Homogenate: after homogenizing brain tissue all neurotransmitters present in the brain get measured
(neurotransmitters in vesicles too)
Able to measure multiple brain regions
Easier setup
Personality:
Temperament: nature aspect of personality
Inclinations we are born with
Predisposition
Differences in strength driving underlying basis emotions (fear, anger, disgust, surprise)
Character: nurture aspect of personality
Emergent form developing through interaction of temperament and environment
Habits we acquire over our lifetime
Individual differences in a person’s goals and values
Disposition
Personality = a unique combination of universal building blocks
History:
4 humours:
Choleric (enthusiastic)
Melancholic (somber)
Sanguine (cheerful)
Phlegmatic (calm)
Keirsey’s 4 temperaments:
Guardians
Rationals
Idealists
Artisans
Trait theory: ‘The big five’
Extraversion: energy , positive emotions , …
Agreeableness: compassion and cooperation towards others
Conscientiousness: self-discipline, dutifulness
Neuroticism: tendency to experience unpleasant emotions easily
Openness: appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, …
Gordon W. Allport: psychologist
Omnibus definition: personality is everything that makes you an individual, integration and
interaction of your genetic inheritance and experiences
No guidance on how to distinguish different personalities
Trait or integrative/ configurational approach: trait is a behavioural trend resulting from experience
and expressing the genetic predisposition of the individuals reaction to its surroundings
Systems or hierarchical approach: personality contains 3 layers of components; the persona, the self
and the unconscious processes
Persona: external layers / mask you put on for different occasions
Self: private ego behind the mask that dominates conscious experience (tied to memories)
Unconscious processes: not accessible to conscious awareness
,C.R. Cloninger: psychiatrist + geneticist
Made microbiological model of personality
o Twin and familiy studies
o Longitudinal development studies
o Neuropharmacology studies
Tridimensional personality questionnaire:
Tridimensional personality questionnaire: studies 3 dimensions/traits of personality based on 100
true/false questions
Novelty seeking
Harm avoidance
Reward dependence
Disadvantages:
Poor differentiation between personality disorders
Neglects some personality disorders (paranoid , schizotypal personality)
Temperament and character inventory:
7-factor personality scale:
4 temperament factors: novelty seeking, harm avoidance, reward dependence,
persistence
3 character factors: self-directedness, cooperativeness, self-transcendence
TCI temperament cube:
Gaussian distribution: most behaviour is a balance between 2/more dimensions
Personality disorders: extreme high/low variants
Sex differences:
Harm avoidance + reward dependence: higher for women
Novelty seeking + persistence: equal for both sexes
Quantify personality traits:
Behavioural tests
Neurochemical analysis
Novelty seeking:
Heritable tendency: toward intense excitement in response to novel stimuli, cues for potential
rewards and relief of punishment
Behavioural activation:
Avoiding monotomy
Pursuit of potential rewards
Avoiding punishments
High novelty seeking: exploratory, adventure seeking, impulsivity, quickly distracted, …
Low novelty seeking: reflective, loyal, rigid, stoic, slow-tempered, introvert, persistent, …
Balance:
Risk taking spirit, openness to changes, optimism, excitement about exploration
Impulsiveness, extravagance, disorderliness, lack of focus
,Harm avoidance:
Heritable tendency: to respond intensely to aversive stimuli
Behavioural inhibition:
Avoid punishment
Avoid novelty
Avoid frustrative non-reward
Balance:
Cautiousness, careful planning
Fear of uncertainty, extreme shyness, perfectionism, anticipatory worry, difficulty to relax
Reward dependence:
Heritable tendency: to respond intensely to signals of reward (verbal approval signals, sentiment, relief, …)
Behavioural maintenance: to maintain behaviour that was previously associated with rewards
Balance:
Openness to warm communication, social sensitivity, attachment
Dependence on approval, sentimentality
Neurotransmission:
Dopaminergic system:
Novelty seeking: uses dopamine for behavioural activation
Dopaminergic pathways:
Nigrostriatal/ dorsal mesostriatal
Mesolimbic/ ventral mesostriatal
Mesolimbocortical
Mesodiencephalic
Nigrostriatal pathway: part of basal ganglia motor loop
Fluent coordination of limb movement
Degeneration in Parkinson’s disease
Ventral tegmental area:
→ Projections to limbic structures (hippocampus, amygdala, septum): important for regulation
of emotional behaviour
→ Projections to neocortex (medial frontal, anterior cingulate, entorhinal): for motivational behaviour
Dopamine agonists: stimulation of dopaminergic neurons used for pharmacological evidence
Increase of locomotor activity
Feeling of joy and satisfaction
Reinforcement of drug effects (addiction)
Dopamine antagonists: inhibition of dopaminergic neurons
Ignoring stimuli
Decrease spontaneous activity and speech (apathic behaviour)
Decrease of associative ability
Decrease of seeking behaviour
, Cholinergic system:
Basal forebrain nuclei: nucleus basalis of Meynert
Nucleus basalis of Meynert quickly affected in Alzheimer’s disease
Brain stem nuclei: mesopontine tegmentum area , pontomesencephalotegmental complex
Acetylcholine: important for cognitive tasks
Response to novel stimuli: arousal, attention, fear, stress, encoding novel stimuli
Environmental habituation (recognition): learning processes
Sleep
Noradrenergic system:
Reward dependence: uses noradrenaline for behavioural maintenance
Serotonergic system:
Harm avoidance: uses serotonin for behavioural inhibition
Neurotransmitter overview:
Catecholamines:
Precursor: DOPA
Neurotransmitters: noradrenaline, adrenaline, dopamine
Metabolite: DOPAC, HVA, MHPG
Indolamines:
Precursor: tryptophan
Neurotransmitters: serotonine
Metabolite: 5-HIAA
Behavioural tests:
Mice:
Novelty seeking: naturally curious animals that like to investigate their environment
Harm avoidance: mice avoid novel things as it could harm/endanger them
Holeboard test: amount of head dips and amount of different holes investigated measured
Canopy test: time spent in exposed zone VS time spent under canopy (roof)
Dark-light transition box: measure how quickly mouse enters bright compartment
and amount of time spent there
Elevated plus maze: time spent in closed arms VS time spent in open arms compared
Open field test: path followed and amount of time in centre VS time in corners compared
Result: more motor activity during the first exploration
Neurochemical analysis:
Homogenate:
Homogenate: after homogenizing brain tissue all neurotransmitters present in the brain get measured
(neurotransmitters in vesicles too)
Able to measure multiple brain regions
Easier setup
