Introvert or Extrovert ? Depends on Your Brain Wiring

When Carl Jung coined the terms “extrovert” and “introvert” in the early twentieth century, he emphasized that introverts aren’t necessarily shy or insecure—nor are extroverts necessarily empathic or loving. The distinction between the two, Jung wrote, lies mainly in the fact that introverts get exhausted by social interaction, while extroverts get anxious when left alone. Introverts need solitude in order to recharge, while extroverts draw energy from socializing.

Recently discovered is the fact that introversion and extroversion is not related to how shy or outgoing we are, but rather on how our brains are wired.One example of brains being wired differently is that, if your’e an extrovert, your brain responds more strongly to different stimuli.

An experiment by the BBC reported on the reaction of the brain when people took gambles. Their brains were scanned during this chance taking exercise. When the gamble paid off, the more extroverted group showed a stronger response in two crucial brain regions: the amygdala and the nucleus accumbens.

The nucleus accumbens is part of the dopamine system that affects how we learn, and is the part that motivates us to search for rewards. In a extrovert’s brain. their dopamine system pushes them toward seeking out novelty and risk taking while enjoying unfamiliar and surprising situations more than their introvert counterparts. The amygdala is responsible for processing emotional stimuli which gives extroverts a rush of excitement when they try something very stimulating , This same stimuli would overwhelm an introvert.

Additional research has shown that the differences come from how introverts and extroverts process stimuli. The stimulations coming into our brains is processed differently depending on your personality. For extroverts, the pathway is much shorter in that it runs through and area where taste, touch visual and auditory processing takes place. For the introverts, the process takes much longer, in that the stimuli runs through a long complicated pathway in areas of the brain associated with remembering, planning and solving problems.

Therefore, when you make life choices that are congruent with your temperment and personality —and allow others to do the same—you unleash vast stores of energy.

Conversely, when you spend too much time battling your own nature, the opposite happens: you deplete yourself.