< Go Back Value the introverts in your life... for they are the deep thinkers Posted: Jul 15, 2016 It was Carl Jung who coined the terms introvert and
extrovert in the 1920s to describe contrasting personality types and to explain
why different people were energised in different ways. He hypothesised that extroverts gain their
energy from their social interactions and external environments and that they tend
to feel uncomfortable and anxious when they find themselves alone.
Introverts,
on the other hand, are able to replenish their energy levels when they are in
quiet environments. Unlike extroverts,
they find socialising and busy environments over-stimulating and too demanding.
Introversion
and extroversion are at the opposite ends of the same spectrum. No‑one is completely one way or the other and
everybody moves up and down the spectrum depending on external and internal
factors. However, most people tend to
display more characteristics of one of these personality types over the other.
It's
nearly a hundred years since Carl Jung first made his observations and in this
time science has proved that there are indeed physical differences in the
brains of introverts and extroverts that explain the differences in
personality.
Perhaps
the most fascinating difference is in the way that introverts and extroverts
process information. In other words,
there are differences in the way they think. When information from the external world is received by an extrovert's
brain it travels via a short pathway that goes through the areas of the brain
where touch, taste, sound and sight are processed.
However,
when an introvert receives stimulus from the outside world the pathway that the
information travels is a lot longer. The
information goes through many areas of the brain including:
the right front insular - an
area involved with empathy, emotional thought and self‑reflection, Broca's area - the area
that activates self-talk and plans speech, the right and left front
lobes - which plan and select ideas and actions, and the left hippocampus - that
decides what things are personal and places them in long-term memories.
This
long journey that the information takes when an introvert receives stimulus
from the external world is the reason why introverts take longer to speak,
react and make decisions.
But that's not all! Scientists
have discovered that introverts have larger, thicker grey matter in their
prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex
at the front of the brain is linked to abstract thought and decision-making. Extroverts, on the other hand, have thinner grey
matter in the same area.
What
does this mean? It means that while extroverts have the propensity to live in
the moment introverts devote more of their energy and resources to abstract
thought. So, if you need instant answers
and immediate action, ask an extrovert but if a solution requires deep thought
and creativity seek out those introverts in your life.
