In this episode Joel and Antonia interview Dr. Dario Nardi about his brain scan research into personality type he’s called the Neuroscience of Personality.

Dario’s name is celebrated in the typology community for helping to bring typology into the arena of hard science.

He uses an EEG unit to measure activity on the surface of the brain.

Neuroscience of Personality by Dario Nardi

There is a statistical relationship between brain wiring and the various personality types.

We can create a stereotypical view of each type.

ENFPs are the most homogeneous. They look the most like each other.

This thing called type isn’t just about the brain. It’s also impacted by the limbic system and the nervous system.

ENFPs are the poster children for being able to adapt to any environment. They can go into any situation and get through it.

SJ folks tend to be a lot more specialized.

If a person is too much on the right side of the brain, they are going to be over perceiving.

Too much on the left, they will show an overabundance of the judging functions.

Extraverts show more activity in the front of the brain, and introverts show more activity in the back of the brain.

Life is generally tougher for the people with primary activity in the back of the brain.

Type is a framework that reminds us of the things that are important, like the balance between perception/judgment, rational/irrational.

Creative INTs have more in common in terms of brain wiring than technical versions of INTs.

Careers make a difference to INTJs development.

The brain of an INTJ in meditation looks like its opposite type – ISFP.

It is about how people use the brain as a whole.

Introverted Sensing (Si) – brain wiring that is amazingly specific to how they do what they do.

SJ types like practice. They want to get it right.

Si is adaptable within a particular domain over an extended period of time.

If you say something to a Si primary that is out of their frame, they need to figure out how to reconcile that info.

An introvert using Se is very different from an extravert using Se.

Introverts using Se will look intuitive because their third function is intuitive.

INTJs have pretty good awareness of voice tone and inflection.

If somebody with auxiliary Extraverted Sensing (Se) has used intuition, they will look different.

Se dominants brains activate based on what the context is asking for.

Not like Extraverted Intuition (Ne) who throw in brain functions that seem completely unrelated just to see if there is any insight.

By midlife, most people have integrated a portion of that tertiary process. If someone focuses on copilot early and masters it, they can dip into that tertiary faster.

Left prefrontal cortex links well with judging functions – thinking/feeling.

Right prefrontal cortex links well with sensing/intuiting.

If someone’s second function is thinking, they will be firing same part of the brain that connects with feeling.

Right parietal lobe – detecting body sensations and having empathy for others is in the same region as economics, managing money, and info (Extraverted Thinking).

There is one region of the brain that is very Fe, and it is right next door to the Ti part of the brain.

Polarities – no cognitive function is isolated. Each is part of its opposite. A dance between seemingly opposite functions.

For all people who like to do yoga, meditation, bodywork – folks who come in with sensing/feeling preference. They have really strong body connection. They feel as they are thinking.

Some people with an intuiting preference are detached from their bodies. They can connect cognitively but not physically.

One Therapist was coaching an INTJ to get into his body. The INTJ was profoundly disassociated from his body, and the therapist needed to get him to reconnect with his body, again and again.

There can be huge divides between types: A person who is tremendously connected with their body vs. a person who is a floating brain.

Sensing users rely upon all their senses – auditory, visual, kinesthetic.

Intuitives rely upon one or two of those senses, but not all three. Kinesthetic is usually left out.

People with intuiting preference tend to stop using all senses fairly often. They go into their head and senses disengage. They may be seeing, but they’re not looking. They may be hearing, but they’re not listening. They may not even be feeling anything in their body.

Particular regions of the brain are the result of evolution. A lot of personality models are very logical in their layout, but we didn’t evolve like that.

People identified as a liberal had a very high tolerance for uncertainty.

Even if you don’t like someone you may still feel engaged with them. If the person you support doesn’t excite your brain, there will be problems.

Type development can happen too soon. If you get too good at something, you get bored and want to move on.

All of the types are necessary for the social eco-system.

Personality types occur in certain percentages within society, and that is the way things need to be.

Whenever an intuitive type gets a description, it is really flowery. Whenever a sensor type gets described, it’s neutered.

If intuitives appear homogenous is it because they are so similar in their differences? Whereas Sensors are so specialized and unique, to find the trends among them is more difficult.

There is a higher percentage of sensors because there’s more of a need for the mentality of specialization: focusing on one thing and getting exceptional at it.

Every ISFJ is specialized in a very particular way, whereas INFJs have a tendency to look similar to each other.

Most type descriptions are written by Intuitives.

All types were described by the types themselves. With an ENFJ that proofread and looked for biases.

Type continues to have a powerful appeal to the general population. It speaks to people on a deep level. Each of the eight functions can’t be pinned down because they’re organic and alive.

Maintain professionalism about MBTI.

Our Brains in Color by Dario Nardi