A Q&D on Neurobio of Intro-Extroversion Spectrum (and what we can do about it)

This is a quick and dirty because a truly accurate account would take a lot of time, particularly considering I'm jumping to conclusions while I wait for neuroscience to prove me right.

Well, not JUST me.

I think the first time I was exposed to the idea of high thalamus gain it was in an email discussion with distinguished scholar of medical education John Pelley, PhD, MBA. (And John, if you see this and it wasn't you, please correct me OR if you'd like to claim credit anyway I'm down what that.) The idea: the thalamus works as a sort of sensory data filter, sort of like gain on an amplifier. When the gain is low, inputs are perceived softly. When the gain is high, inputs are perceived more robustly.

The thalamus is connected to parts of the brain's cortex involved with sensory perception. (The cortex does all the higher function stuff like intentional thought.) In the amplifier analogy then, the thalamus is gain and the cortex is the speaker as well as the listener. Exposure to robust inputs over time can overwhelm a system - in the speaker example, the woofer can blow out. With us humans, it may be the case that people with high thalamus gain are more easily exhausted and/ or overwhelmed by sensory inputs than others.

Given what we know about introverts, it seems likely then that they may be experiencing high thalamus gain while extroverts experience low thalamus gain. This may not be earth-shattering news but knowing what is happening neurobiologically can help us to better engage with folks who have different experiences. Having a language to use about things like provides a bridge for development both internally and socially because it help us to take things less personally and frame them in a way that makes them easier to observe.

How so? Turns out that the thalamus can be controlled by the cortex; in other words, it may be possible to for the listener to alter the gain. All kinds of studies on mindfulness and default mode networks and attention and so on have been adding to the mountain of evidence that says this is possible. But it is one thing to watch an fMRI or use light make a mouse flick it's whiskers. It is another thing to try to get a group project underway, engage in team building, feel comfortable networking, or otherwise operationalize all this cool science.

BUT there are methods out there that can help translate neuroscience into practical applications. There are great techniques from social, emotional, and conversational intelligence that can be applied in business, education, and personal relationships. These techniques may be leveraging the power of the cortex to exert some control over the thalamus (as well as a variety of other things; remember this is Q&D) because they rely on higher brain function such as intentional thought to quell fears and reset experience toward co-creativity and connection.

Take-aways:

1. The introversion-extroversion spectrum likely has a neurobiological correlate.
2. A person's level of introversion or extroversion is likely malleable to some extent.
3. The techniques of social, emotional, and conversational intelligence work to maximize this malleability.