Hostname: page-component-cc8bf7c57-n7qbj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-11T22:58:10.412Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Personality and the Alpha Rhythm

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

George W. Fenton
Affiliation:
Academic Department of Psychiatry, Middlesex Hospital Medical School, London, W.1
Leila Scotton
Affiliation:
Academic Department of Psychiatry, Middlesex Hospital Medical School, London, W.1

Extract

Since human electroencephalography was first introduced by Berger in 1929, there have been many attempts to correlate the alpha rhythm with various aspects of personality. Lemere (1936) first reported a relationship between “good” and “poor” alpha rhythms and cyclothymic and schizoid personalities respectively. Gottlober (1938) found a correlation between a high alpha index (per cent. time alpha) and extraversion. However, Henry and Knott (1941) pointed out that the group studied by Gottlober was loaded both with high alpha indices and extraverts, and with additional data were unable to find a significant relationship between extraversion-introversion and alpha index.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1967 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Biesheuvel, S. (1949). “An observational technique of temperament and personality assessment.” Bull. nat. Inst. Pers. Res., 1, No. 4, 927.Google Scholar
Bremer, F. (1961). “Neurophysiological mechanisms in cerebral arousal.” In Wolstenholme, G. E. W., and O'Connor, M. (eds.) The Nature of Sleep. London: Churchill, 3056.Google Scholar
Bremer, F. and Stoupel, N. (1959). “Facilitation et inhibition des potentiels évoqués corticaux dans l'éveil cérébral.” Arch. internat. Physiol., 67, 240275.Google Scholar
Brockway, A. L., Gleser, G., Winokur, G., and Ulett, G. A. (1954). “The use of a control population in neuropsychiatric research (psychiatric psychological and EEG evaluation of a heterogeneous sample.” Amer. J. Psychiat., 111, 248262.Google Scholar
Brudo, C. S., and Darrow, C. W. (1953). “A preliminary study of per cent. time alpha in the EEG and the human movement response in the Rorschach.” Electroenceph. clin. Neurophysiol., 5, 481 (abstract).Google Scholar
Dumont, S., and Dell, P. (1960). “Facilitation réticulaire des méchanismes visuels corticaux.” Electroenceph. clin. Neurophysiol., 12, 769796.Google Scholar
Erwin, C. W., Lerner, M., Wilson, N. J., and Wilson, W. P. (1961). “Some further observations on the photically elicited arousal response.” Ibid., 13, 391394.Google Scholar
Evarts, E. V. (1960). “Effects of sleep and waking on spontaneous and evoked discharge of single units in visual cortex.” Fed. Proc., 19, 828837.Google Scholar
Evarts, E. V. (1963). “Photically evoked responses in visual cortex units during sleep and waking.” J. Neurophysiol., 26, 230248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evarts, E. V. (1964). “Temporal patterns of discharge of pyramidal tract neurones during sleep and waking in the monkey.” J. Neurophysiol., 27, 152171.Google Scholar
Evarts, E. V., Bental, E., Bihari, B., and Huttenlocher, P. R. (1962). “Spontaneous discharge of single neurones during sleep and waking.” Science, 135, 726728.Google Scholar
Eysenck, H. J. (1947). Dimensions of Personality. London: Routledge and Regan Paul.Google Scholar
Eysenck, H. J. (1957). The Dynamics of Anxiety and Hysteria. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Eysenck, H. J. (1959). Manual of the Maudsley Personality Inventory. University of London Press.Google Scholar
Eysenck, H. J. (1964). Crime and Personality. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Fenton, G. W., and Scotton, L. “Some observations on the alpha blocking response to serial visual stimuli.” (In preparation.)Google Scholar
Fuster, J. M. (1958). “Effects of stimulation of the brain stem on tachistoscopic perception.” Science, 127, 150.Google Scholar
Gastaut, H. (1957). “Conditionnement et réactivité en électroencéphalographie.” Electroenceph. clin. Neurophysiol., Supp.6, 321338.Google Scholar
Gastaut, H., and Bert, J. (1961). “Electroencephalographic detection of sleep induced by repetitive sensory stimuli.” In The Nature of Sleep (eds. Wolstenholme, G. E. W., and O'Connor, M.) London: Churchill, pp. 260283.Google Scholar
Gastaut, H., Bacher, F., Bert, J. Blanc-Garin, J., and Roger, A. (1959). “Étude des corrélations entre les variables électroencéphalographiques et psychométriques (MMPI Rosenzweig).” Rev. Neurol. Paris, 101, 376384.Google Scholar
Glass, A. (1964). “Mental arithmetic and blocking of the occipital alpha rhythm.” Electroenceph. clin. Neurophysiol., 16, 595603.Google Scholar
Glass, A. and Broadhurst, A. (1966). “Relationship between EEG as a measure of cortical activity and personality variables.” Ibid., 21, 307309.Google Scholar
Gottlober, A. B. (1938). “The relationship between brain potentials and personality.” J. exp. Psychol., 22, 6774.Google Scholar
Henry, C. E., and Knott, J. R. (1941). “A note on the relationship between ‘personality’ and the alpha rhythm of the electroencephalogram.” Ibid., 28, 363366.Google Scholar
Heymans, G. (1929). Inleiding tot de Speciale Psychologie. Haarlem: Bohn, pp. 242262.Google Scholar
Jus, A., and Jus, C. (1960). “Étude de l'extinction par répétition de l'expression EEG, du réflexe d'orientation et de l'action du frein extrème sur les réactions EEG aux différents stimuli chez l'homme.” Electroenceph. clin. Neurophysiol., Suppl.13, 321333.Google Scholar
Kruger, L., and Henry, C. E. (1957). “The electrical activity of the Rolandic region in the unanaesthetized monkey.” Neurology, 7, 490495.Google Scholar
Lemere, F. (1936). “The significance of individual differences in the Berger rhythm.” Brain, 59, 366375.Google Scholar
Lilly, J. (1958). “Correlations between neurophysiological activity in the cortex and short-term behaviour in the monkey.” Interdisciplinary Research Symposium, Univ. Wisconsin Press, Madison.Google Scholar
Lindsley, D. B. (1938). “Electrical potentials of the brain in children and adults.” J. gen. Psychol., 19, 285306.Google Scholar
Lindsley, D. B. (1958). “The reticular formation system and perceptual discrimination.” In Reticular Formation of the Brain (eds. Jasper, H. H., Proctor, L. D., Knighton, R. S., Noshay, W. C. and Costella, Robert T.). Toronto: Little, Brown & Co., pp. 513534.Google Scholar
McAdam, W., and McClatchey, W. J. (1952). “The electroencephalogram in aged patients of a mental hospital.” J. ment. Sci., 98, 711715.Google Scholar
McAdam, W., and Orme, J. E. (1954). “Personality traits and the electroencephalogram.” Ibid., 100, 913921.Google Scholar
Morrell, L., and Morrell, F. (1962). “Non-random oscillation in the response duration curve of electro-graphic activation.” Electroenceph. clin. Neurophysiol., 14, 724730.Google Scholar
Moruzzi, G., and Magoun, H. W. (1949). “Brain stem reticular formation and activation of the EEG.” Electroenceph. clin. Neurophysiol., 1, 455473.Google Scholar
Moses, L. (1946). “Psychodynamic and electroencephalographic factors in duodenal ulcer.” Psychosom. Med., 8, 405409.Google Scholar
Mundy-Castle, A. C. (1953). “Electrical responses of the brain in relation to behaviour.” Brit. J. Psychol., 44, 318329.Google Scholar
Mundy-Castle, A. C. (1956). “The relationship between the primary-secondary function and the alpha rhythm of the electroencephalogram.” J. nat. Inst. Pers. Res., 6, 95102.Google Scholar
Mundy-Castle, A. C. (1957). L'é1ectroencéphalogramme et sa relation avec le tempérament.” Electroenceph. clin. Neurophysiol. Supp.6, 221233.Google Scholar
Mundy-Castle, A. C. (1958). “An appraisal of the EEG in relation to psychology.” J. nat. Inst. Pers. Res., Supp. 2, 143.Google Scholar
Purpura, D. P. (1956). “Observations on the cortical mechanisms of EEG activation accompanying behavioural arousal.” Science, 123, 804.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Purpura, D. P. (1958). “Organization of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic electrogenesis in the cerebral cortex.” In Reticular Formation of the Brain (eds. Jasper, H. H., Proctor, L. D., Knighton, R. S., Noshay, W. C., Costella, Robert T.). Toronto: Little, Brown & Co., pp. 435457.Google Scholar
Purpura, D. P. (1959). “Nature of electrocortical potentials and synaptic organizations in cerebral and cerebellar cortex.” Internat. Rev. Neurobiol., 1, 47163. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Rubin, S., and Bowman, K. M. (1942). “Electroencephalographic and personality correlates in peptic ulcer.” Psychosom. Med., 4, 309318.Google Scholar
Rubin, S., and Moses, L. (1944). “Electroencephalographic studies in asthma, with some personality correlates.” Ibid., 6, 3139.Google Scholar
Saul, L. J., Davis, H., and Davis, P. A. (1937). “Correlation between electroencephalograms and the psychological organization of the individual.” Tr. Am. neurol. Ass., 63, 167169.Google Scholar
Saul, L. J., Davis, H., and Davis, P. A. (1949). “Psychologic correlations with the electroencephalogram.” Psychosom. Med., 11, 361365.Google Scholar
Savage, R. D. (1964). “Electro-cerebral activity, extraversion and neuroticism.” Brit. J. Psychiat., 110, 98110.Google Scholar
Schlag, J., and Balvin, R. (1963). “Background activity in the cerebral cortex and reticular formation in relation with the electroencephalogram.” Exp. Neurol., 8, 203219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sisson, B. D., and Ellingson, R. J. (1955). “On the relationship between ‘normal’ EEG patterns and personality variables.” J. nerv. ment. Dis., 121, 353358.Google Scholar
Sokolov, E. N. (1963). Perception and the Conditioned Reflex. London: Pergamon.Google Scholar
Travis, L. E., and Bennett, C. L. (1953). “The relationship between the electroencephalogram and scores in certain Rorschach categories.” Electroenceph. clin. Neurophysiol., 5, 474 (abstract).Google Scholar
Ulett, G. A., Gleser, G., Winokur, G., and Lawler, A. (1953). “The EEG and reaction to photic stimulation as an index of anxiety-proneness.” Ibid., 5, 2332.Google Scholar
Wells, C. E. (1963). “Alpha wave responsiveness to light in man.” In EEG and Behaviour (ed. Glaser, G. H.). New York: Basic Books Inc. pp. 4155.Google Scholar
Wiersma, E. D. (1932). Lectures on Psychiatry. London: H. K. Lewis, p. 610.Google Scholar
Wilson, N. J., and Wilson, W. P. (1959). “The duration of human electroencephalographic arousal responses elicited by photic stimulation.” Electroenceph. clin. Neurophysiol., 11, 8591.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.