Neural correlates of eye contact in face-to-face verbal interaction : an EEG-based study of the extraversion personality trait

Nur Syahirah Roslan, Lila Iznita Izhar, Ibrahima Faye, Hafeez Ullah Amin, Mohamad Naufal Mohamad Saad, Subarna Sivapalan, Samsul Ariffin Abdul Karim, Mohammad Abdul Rahman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The extraversion personality trait has a positive correlation with social interaction. In neuroimaging studies, investigations on extraversion in face-to-face verbal interactions are still scarce. This study presents an electroencephalography (EEG)-based investigation of the extraversion personality trait in relation to eye contact during face-to-face interactions, as this is a vital signal in social interactions. A sample of healthy male participants were selected (consisting of sixteen more extraverted and sixteen less extraverted individuals) and evaluated with the Eysenck’s Personality Inventory (EPI) and Big Five Inventory (BFI) tools. EEG alpha oscillations in the occipital region were measured to investigate extraversion personality trait correlates of eye contact during a face-to-face interaction task and an eyes-open condition. The results revealed that the extraversion personality trait has a significant positive correlation with EEG alpha coherence in the occipital region, presumably due to its relationship with eye contact during the interaction task. Furthermore, the decrease in EEG alpha power during the interaction task compared to the eyes-open condition was found to be greater in the less extraverted participants; however, no significant difference was observed between the less and more extraverted participants. Overall, these findings encourage further research towards the understanding of neural mechanism correlates of the extraversion personality trait—particularly in social interaction.
Original languageEnglish
Article numbere0219839
Number of pages15
JournalPLoS One
Volume14
Issue number7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019

Open Access - Access Right Statement

© 2019 Roslan et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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