Temperament is understood as the way the body produces behaviour.
It was recognised as making an important contribution to personality.Īs our understanding evolved, personality has been regarded as a composite of character and temperament.
Later, in the early 20th century, neuroanatomists identified the limbic lobe – an arc-shaped part of the frontal, temporal and parietal lobes that sits in the middle of the brain – as the seat of emotion. The classical case is of Phineas Gage (1823-60), an American railroad worker who had a large iron rod driven completely through his head in an accident, which destroyed most of his left frontal lobe and resulted in a profound personality change.Īfter the accident, Gage was described as having become “fitful, irreverent, indulging at times in the grossest profanity (which was not previously his custom), manifesting… little deference for his fellows, impatient of restraint or advice when it conflicts with his desires.”įrom this case, the frontal lobes, which occupy the front third of the brain, emerged as the seat of higher functions such as judgement, motivation, regulation of behaviour and social consciousness. Understanding the neurological physiology of personality is sometimes seen as the holy grail of psychology, and was the topic of Sigmund Freud’s first paper, Project for a Scientific Psychology, in 1895.Įarly developments in this field came from historical case descriptions. These descriptions have been used to understand normal and abnormal behaviour, and to predict work success, academic achievement and interpersonal relationships.Īn iron rod was driven through Gage’s head, destroying most of his left frontal lobe and resulting in a profound change in his personality. The most popular approach has so far been to use five dimensions: openness to experience (curious or cautious), conscientiousness (organised or careless), extraversion (outgoing or solitary), agreeableness (friendly or detached) and neuroticism (nervous or secure).Ī self-report questionnaire is often used to give a score to each dimension, which then describes someone’s personality.
Thebrain for characters how to#
Since everyone is different in their own way, psychologists have debated how to characterise personality. They are then referred to as traits and influence behaviour, thinking, motivation and emotion. After the developmental period through childhood and adolescence, these patterns of relating remain reasonably stable through life. Personality is a broad term describing how people habitually relate to the world and their inner self.
Thebrain for characters series#
For now though, our Brain Control series explores what we do know about the brain’s command of six central functions: language, mood, memory, vision, motor skills and personality – and what happens when things go wrong.
The brain is key to our existence, but there’s a long way to go before neuroscience can truly capture its staggering capacity.
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