Neuroticism is a personality trait associated with impaired attention, memory, and error detection. Thus, the present study investigated the visual N100 and P200 event-related potentials components associated with attention using a 2-back working memory task in healthy neurotic and nonneurotic participants, evaluated using the Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness Five Factor Inventory. A total of 35 healthy participants were asked to perform the 2-back task while recording electroencephalographic activity from 64 electrodes on the scalp. Analysis of the N100 and P200 amplitude and latency in high neuroticism and low neuroticism subjects showed an increased P200 amplitude and latency for high neuroticism subjects in the frontal and parietal regions, respectively. However, there were no significant performance differences between the high and low neuroticism subjects for the 2-back working memory task. Therefore, the results suggest that neuroticism is associated with the P200 component elicited in the context of a working memory task.
CostaPT Jr. and McCraeRRRevised NEO personality R and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO FFI) professional manual. Psychological Assessment Resources, 1992.
2.
KarstenJPenninxBWJHRieseH, et al.The state effect of depressive and anxiety disorders on big five personality traits. J Psychiatr Res. 2012;46(5):644-650. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2012.01.024
3.
ChanSGoodwinGHarmerC. Highly neurotic never-depressed students have negative biases in information processing. Psychol Med. 2007;37(9):1281-1291. doi:10.1017/S0033291707000669
4.
BredemeierKBerenbaumHMostSBSimonsDJ. Links between neuroticism, emotional distress, and disengaging attention: evidence from a single-target RSVP task. Cogn Emot. 2011;25(8):1510-1519. doi:10.1080/02699931.2010.549460
5.
HahnSButtaccioDRHahnJLeeT. Personality and attention: levels of neuroticism and extraversion can predict attentional performance during a change detection task. Q J Exp Psychol. 2015;68(6):1041-1048. doi:10.1080/17470218.2015.1032986
6.
EichelKStahlJ. The Role of Mindfulness and Emotional Stability in Error Detection. Mindfulness, 2017;8(2):311-324. doi: 10.1007/s12671-016-0601-1
7.
TreismanAM. Strategies and models of selective attention. Psychological Review, 1969;76(3):282-299. doi: 10.1037/h0027242
8.
KnouseLTraegerLO’CleirighCSafrenS. Adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms and five-factor model traits in a clinical sample. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2013;201(10):848-854. doi: 10.1097/nmd.0b013e3182a5bf33
9.
BaddeleyAD. Working memory and executive control. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 1996;351(1346):1397-1404. doi: 10.1098/rstb.1996.0123
10.
BaddeleyADHitchG. Working Memory. In Psychology of Learning and Motivation, 1974;8:47-89. doi: 10.1016/S0079-7421(08)60452-1
11.
SaylikRSzameitatAJCheetaS. Neuroticism related differences in working memory tasks. PloS One. 2018;13(12):e0208248. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0208248
12.
EysenckMWDerakshanNSantosRCalvoMG. Anxiety and cognitive performance: Attentional control theory. Emotion, 2007;7(2):336-353. doi:10.1037/1528-3542.7.2.336
13.
FriedmanNPMiyakeA. The Relations Among Inhibition and Interference Control Functions: A Latent-Variable Analysis. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2004;133(1):101-135. doi:10.1037/0096-3445.133.1.101
14.
HegartyMShahPMiyakeA. Constraints on using the dual-task methodology to specify the degree of central executive involvement in cognitive tasks. Memory & Cognition, 2000;28(3):376-385. doi:10.3758/BF03198553
15.
DerakshanNSmythSEysenckMW. Effects of state anxiety on performance using a task-switching paradigm: An investigation of attentional control theory. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 2009;16(6):1112-1117.
16.
DimaDFristonKJStephanKEFrangouS. Neuroticism and conscientiousness respectively constrain and facilitate short-term plasticity within the working memory neural network. Hum Brain Mapp. 2015;36(10):4158-4163. doi:10.1002/hbm.22906
17.
Guzmán MuñozFJ. The influence of personality and working memory capacity on implicit learning. Q J Exp Psychol. 2018;71(12):2603-2614. doi:10.1177/1747021817749582
18.
BartussekDBeckerGDiedrichONaumannEMaierS. Extraversion, neuroticism, and event-related brain potentials in response to emotional stimuli. Pers Individ Dif. 1996;20(3):301-312. doi:10.1016/0191-8869(95)00175-1
19.
FjellAMWalhovdKBMelingSJohansenMB. Basic information processing of neurotics and stables: an experimental ERP approach to personality and distractibility. Scand J Psychol. 2005;46(6):493-502. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9450.2005.00481.x
CrowleyKEColrainIM. A review of the evidence for P2 being an independent component process: age, sleep and modality. Clin Neurophysiol. 2004;115(4):732-744. doi:10.1016/j.clinph.2003.11.021
22.
SurSSinhaV. Event-related potential: an overview. Ind Psychiatry J. 2009;18(1):70. doi:10.4103/0972-6748.57865
23.
MangunGRHillyardSA. Modulations of sensory-evoked brain potentials indicate changes in perceptual processing during visual-spatial priming. J Exp Psychol: Human Percep Perfor. 1991;17(4):1057-1074. doi:10.1037/0096-1523.17.4.1057
24.
VogelEKLuckSJ. The visual N1 component as an index of a discrimination process. Psychophysiology. 2000;37(2):190-203. doi:10.1111/1469-8986.3720190
25.
CiesielskiKFrenchC. Event-related potentials before and after training: chronometry and lateralization of visual N1 and N2. Biol Psychol. 1989;28(3):227-238. doi:10.1016/0301-0511(89)90002-1
26.
CallawayEHallidayR. The effect of attentional effort on visual evoked potential N1 latency. Psychiatry Res. 1982;7(3):299-308. doi:10.1016/0165-1781(82)90066-x
27.
HaiderMSpongPLindsleyDB. Attention, vigilance, and cortical evoked-potentials in humans. Science. 1964;145(3628):180-182. doi: 10.1126/science.145.3628.180
28.
JutaiJWHareRD. Psychopathy and selective attention during performance of a complex perceptual-motor task. Psychophysiology. 1983;20(2):146-151. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.1983.tb03280.x
29.
LuckSJHillyardSA. Electrophysiological correlates of feature analysis during visual search. Psychophysiology. 1994;31(3):291-308. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.1994.tb02218.x
30.
CarretiéLMercadoFTapiaMHinojosaJA. Emotion, attention, and the ‘negativity bias’, studied through event-related potentials. Int J Psychophysiol. 2001;41(1):75-85. doi:10.1016/s0167-8760(00)00195-1
31.
EvansKMFedermeierKD. The memory thats right and the memory thats left: event-related potentials reveal hemispheric asymmetries in the encoding and retention of verbal information. Neuropsychologia. 2007;45(8):1777-1790. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.12.014
32.
GolobEJRingmanJMIrimajiriR, et al.Cortical event-related potentials in preclinical familial Alzheimer disease. Neurology. 2009;73(20):1649-1655. doi:10.1212/WNL.0b013e3181c1de77
33.
VandoolaegheEVan HunselFNuytenDMaesM. Auditory event related potentials in major depression: prolonged P300 latency and increased P200 amplitude. J Affect Disord. 1998;48(2-3):105-113. doi:10.1016/S0165-0327(97)00165-1
34.
PremkumarPOnwumereJAlbertJ, et al.The relation between schizotypy and early attention to rejecting interactions: the influence of neuroticism. World J Biol Psychiatry. 2015;16(8):587-601. doi:10.3109/15622975.2015.1073855
35.
GurreraRJSalisburyDFOdonnellBFNestorPGMccarleyRW. Auditory P3 indexes personality traits and cognitive function in healthy men and women. Psychiatry Res. 2005;133(2-3):215-228. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2004.09.009
36.
Van der VeenFMVan der MolenMJWVan der MolenMWFrankenIHA. Thumbs up or thumbs down? Effects of neuroticism and depressive symptoms on psychophysiological responses to social evaluation in healthy students. Cognit Affect, Behav Neurosci. 2016;16(5):836-847. doi:10.3758/s13415-016-0435-2
37.
Tatalovic VorkapicS& TadinacM. The Relationship of Neuroticism, Psychoticism and Depression with Visual Evoked Potentials. Acta Neuropsychologica, 2016;14(3):241-254. doi: 10.5604/17307503.1222838
38.
ChernyshevBLazarevIChernyshevaE. Temperament: an event-related potential study using the oddball paradigm. Psychol Neurosci. 2013;6(3):235-245. doi: 10.3922/j.psns.2013.3.01
39.
FougnieD. The relationship between attention and working memory. In JohansenNB. (Ed.), New Research on Short-Term Memory 2008;1-45. Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
40.
KaratekinCBinghamCWhiteT. Regulation of cognitive resources during an n-back task in youth-onset psychosis and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Int J Psychophysiol. 2009;73(3):294-307. doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2009.05.001
41.
SheehanDVLecrubierYSheehanKHAmorimPJanavsJWeillerEHerguetaTBakerRDunbarGC. The Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.): the development and validation of a structured diagnostic psychiatric interview for DSM-IV and ICD-10. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 1998;59 (SUPPL 20):22-33; quiz 34-57.
42.
McCraeRRCostaPTJr.Personality in adulthood: A five-factor theory perspective (2nd ed.). Guilford Press. 2003. doi: 10.4324/9780203428412
43.
HoldenRRFekkenG. The NEO five-factor inventory in a Canadian context: psychometric properties for a sample of university women. Pers Individ Dif. 1994;17(3):441-444. doi:10.1016/0191-8869(94)90291-7
44.
FagerbergTSödermanEGustavssonJPAgartzIJönssonEG. Personality traits in established schizophrenia: aspects of usability and differences between patients and controls using the Swedish Universities Scales of Personality. Nord J Psychiatry. 2016;70(6):462-469. doi: 10.3109/08039488.2016.1159331
45.
SeeckMKoesslerLBastT, et al.The standardized EEG electrode array of the IFCN. Clin Neurophysiol. 2017;128(10):2070-2077. doi:10.1016/j.clinph.2017.06.254
46.
DelormeAMakeigS. EEGLAB: an open source toolbox for analysis of single-trial EEG dynamics including independent component analysis. J Neurosci Methods. 2004;134(1):9-21. doi:10.1016/j.jneumeth.2003.10.009
47.
RajjiTKZomorrodiRBarrMSBlumbergerDMMulsantBHDaskalakisZJ. Ordering information in working memory and modulation of Gamma by theta oscillations in humans. Cereb Cortex. 2017;27(2):1482-1490. doi:10.1093/cercor/bhv326
48.
CavuotoMGOngBPikeKENicholasCLBeiBKinsellaGJ. Objective but not subjective sleep predicts memory in community-dwelling older adults. J Sleep Res. 2016;25(4):475-485. doi:10.1111/jsr.12391
PeersPVLudwigCJHRordenC, et al.Attentional functions of parietal and frontal cortex. Cereb Cortex. 2005;15(10):1469-1484. doi:10.1093/cercor/bhi029
51.
SpeedBCNelsonBDLevinsonARPerlmanGKleinDNKotovRHajcakG. Extraversion, neuroticism, and the electrocortical response to monetary rewards in adolescent girls. Biological Psychology, 2018;136:111-118. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2018.05.017
52.
RobinsonMDTamirM. Neuroticism as mental noise: a relation between neuroticism and reaction time standard deviations. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2005;89(1):107-114. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.89.1.107
53.
ChapmanBPDubersteinPRSörensenSLynessJM. Gender differences in five factor model personality traits in an elderly cohort: extension of robust and surprising findings to an older generation. Pers Individ Dif. 2007;43(6):1594-1603. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2007.04.028
54.
KimEYLeeS-HParkG, et al.Gender difference in event related potentials to masked emotional stimuli in the oddball task. Psychiatry Investig. 2013;10(2):164-172. doi:10.4306/pi.2013.10.2.164
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
