V. L. Talanov

SOCIONIC PROFILES OF CNS DOPAMINE ACTIVITY. UNRAVELING THE SECRETS OF THE BEHAVIOR OF THE «DECISIVE».

(new)

Consider the profiles shown in the tables.

Dopamine (dopaminergic) activity of the CNS is associated first of all with Extraversion, second – with Ethics, third – with Dynamics, fourth – with Judiciousness, fifth – with Carefreeness, and sixth – with Questimity. The lion’s share is the contribution of Extraversion (55% of the variance).

High dopamine leads to a sharp increase in three functions of the psyche: Fe, Ne, and Qe, and reduces Ti, Di, Ni, and Se.

The highest level of dopamine activity (on average across type groups) is found in EIE, ESE, ILE, and IEE. The lowest – in LSI, LII, and ILI.

The association with Extraversion is explained by the fact that dopamine is an excitatory neurotransmitter and neurohormone. The association with socionic Dynamics is also understandable – dopamine supports the organism’s reinforcement system; the feeling of anticipation and the motivation to move toward a goal depend on it (that is, dynamic characteristics of behavior unfolded over time). Emotions are also closely linked to motivational support, and in addition empathy depends to a considerable extent on the functioning of dopaminergic mirror neurons. This accounts for the association of dopamine with Ethics. The association with Ne is also understandable - here there is both the well-known role of dopamine in generating schizothymia and its likewise well-known role in supporting creativity. Finally, Black Questimity (Qe) provides negative motivation (a feeling of disgust, a tendency toward avoidance). The dopaminergic mechanism of negative motivation is also well known to neurophysiologists.

The most interesting association is that of Decisiveness with a reduced dopamine level. As we shall see below, this fact explains, in essence, a great deal in the behavior of the «Decisive».

However, for the explanation to follow, we cannot do without introducing another neurohormonal regulator – namely, a group of neuropeptides produced in the pituitary gland under the general name «endorphins».

Endorphins have a morphine-like effect (externally administered heroin merely imitates their natural action on the organism, activating exactly the same neuronal receptors in the CNS).

Receptors for endorphins are located predominantly on neurons that conduct pain sensations, as well as on GABAergic «interneurons». The role of the latter interneurons is to inhibit conduction in dopamine neurons in the subcortical reinforcement center – the striatum.

Activation by endorphins released from the pituitary gland of mu-opioid receptors on the neuronal body leads to blockade of its conduction. If this is a neuron conducting pain sensations – then pain decreases. If this is an inhibitory GABA neuron – then its inhibitory action on the dopamine neurons of the reinforcement center sharply decreases, as a result of which mood rises, motivation to achieve immediate goals increases, and the reinforcing feeling of anticipation intensifies. In fact, externally administered morphine or heroin do exactly the same – they relieve pain and create euphoria. The organism’s own endorphins do the same (only, unlike external opiates, they do not lead to depletion of the mu-opioid receptors on the neurons to which they bind). And when are the organism’s own endorphins produced and released into the blood in especially large quantities? In response to muscular or painful stress. Endorphin release is precisely the fine inhibitory regulation of all stress reactions. Stress should mobilize the organism’s resources rather than lead to shock. It is precisely this task that endorphins accomplish, keeping stress “within bounds”.

Now. In the «Decisive», dopamine activity is reduced, while the activity of GABA neurons that additionally restrain this activity is at an average level or even elevated. By contrast, the activity of the endorphin system in them is much higher than in the «Judicious». The «Decisive» have more mu-opioid receptors on neurons, and the endorphin releases from the pituitary gland in response to stress are much more intense in them.

On the one hand, this provides much better inhibitory regulation of stress reactions in the «Decisive» - because of this they are resistant to stress, experience less pain, and feel less physical muscular fatigue. On the other hand – this creates for them the temptation to improve their mood (which on average in their group is reduced because of initially low dopamine activity) by artificially stimulating endorphin releases. The deliberate creation of conflict situations – this is precisely where it comes from (stress produces an endorphin release and thereby raises mood and gives a sensation of pleasure). Masochism among Ni intuitives – this also comes from the same source (pain and humiliation again cause a powerful endorphin release, which in turn raises the dopamine level in synapses, thereby giving pleasure and, in turn, through the same dopamine mechanism also reinforcing this habit). Sports training «to exhaustion» among many Decisive sensing or logical types - this also comes from the same source. Again, muscular stress leads to a prolonged post-release of endorphins, and these raise dopamine several-fold. This, incidentally, is also the source of some LIEs’ love of risk, which in some representatives of this type almost borders on drug addiction.

Thus, almost all psychological features in the behavior of the «Decisive» (with nuances depending on whether we are speaking of sensing types or intuitives, logical types or ethical types) are caused by just two main factors: a powerful endorphin system (which reacts powerfully in them to any stress) and initially reduced tonic dopamine activity, which, however, through the mediation of endorphins can be sharply and phasically (that is, briefly) stimulated in them, creating, through dopamine «pleasure» reinforcement, a habit-attraction to stressful situations of conflict, aggression, fighting, risk, hurt, and pain.

We will discuss endorphin activity and its markers separately and in much greater detail in the future.

It is well known that schizotypal manifestations (within stable character traits), as well as the prodromal background of schizophrenia, are associated with initially elevated dopaminergic activity. Therefore, one of the practical conclusions following from consideration of the obtained psychological dopamine profiles is that both characterological schizotypal manifestations and the risk of manifestation of progressive schizophrenia (that is, already as a disease rather than a property of character) occur more often in EIE, ESE, ILE, and IEE, whereas the LSI, LII, and ILI psychotypes are, by contrast, protected from schizophrenia to a considerable extent. Not every high dopamine background leads to schizophrenia, but in the presence of other metabolic disturbances that provoke it, it contributes to its development.

V. L. Talanov

12 August 2020

Marker clusters of dopamine activity

Marker clusters of dopamine activity

Marker clusters of dopamine activity

APPENDIX:

MARKER QUESTIONNAIRE CLUSTERS OF HIGH DOPAMINERGIC ACTIVITY – DETAILED ANALYSIS

1. BACKGROUND BLINK FREQUENCY – a marker of high dopaminergic activity in the CNS (direct self-measurement of blink frequency by subjects with a known socionic profile)

Dopamine - logarithm of blink frequency

Dopamine cluster No. 1
(averaging the profiles of 1 scale question, 3498 respondent responses in total)

2. VERBOSITY (rapid abundant speech – the first symptom after intranasal administration of dopamine – with this method it partially penetrates the brain through the BBB)

Dopamine - verbosity

Dopamine cluster No. 2
(averaging the profiles of 39 scale questions, 147988 respondent responses in total)

3. SPEECH SPEED (rapid abundant speech – the first symptom after intranasal administration of dopamine – with this method it partially penetrates the brain through the BBB)

Dopamine - speech speed and speed of thought

Dopamine cluster No. 3
(averaging the profiles of 21 scale questions, 78631 respondent responses in total)

4. ACTIVITY OF MIRROR NEURONS (dopaminergic in nature) IN THE MOTOR AREAS OF THE CEREBRAL CORTEX

1. If a person nearby scratches themselves, sometimes the same spot immediately starts itching on me. 0,95
2. When I see someone scratching, I often automatically feel the urge to scratch myself as well. 0,93
3. When someone in my field of vision on the street makes a sudden movement, I jerk as well. 0,87
4. Sometimes, when someone next to me shivers from the cold, I myself automatically and involuntarily begin to feel cold. 0,81
5. Sometimes I catch myself noticing that when someone next to me abruptly pulls a lever with their hand (in a car, for example), or picks up some object with their hand, my own hand involuntarily clenches. 0,78
6. When someone next to me places a hand on another person’s shoulder, I sometimes have a distinct sensation as if someone had placed a hand on my shoulder. 0,71
7. If someone in front of me stretches their hands toward a fire, sometimes I begin to feel something like heat in my own fingers and palms. 0,68
8. If someone in front of me stumbles, sometimes I somehow automatically stumble after them. 0,65
9. I have noticed that I easily catch other people’s contagious “yawns” - when someone nearby starts yawning, then, upon seeing this, I too immediately yawn automatically and uncontrollably. 0,63

ACTIVITY OF MIRROR NEURONS (dopaminergic in nature) IN THE MOTOR AREAS OF THE CEREBRAL CORTEX

Dopamine cluster No. 4
(averaging the profiles of 9 scale questions, 13970 respondent responses in total)

5. Dopamine - Presumed activity of mirror neurons (dopaminergic in nature) responsible for mirroring unpleasant sensations experienced by another individual and thereby partly forming empathy.

1. I experience anxious agitation and become very upset if I see animals suffering. 0,95
2. I perceive another person’s pain with anguish. 0,92
3. As a rule, I react painfully to signs of anger and threat in other people’s faces, while noticing them immediately. 0,91
4. It is unpleasant for me to watch another person grimace in pain - I immediately begin to feel something similar to their suffering myself. 0,89
5. Usually I myself also become afraid if I see that the friends near me are frightened. 0,87

Presumed activity of mirror neurons (dopaminergic in nature) responsible for mirroring unpleasant sensations experienced by another individual and thereby partly forming empathy.

Dopamine cluster No. 5
(averaging the profiles of 5 scale questions, 14857 respondent responses in total)

6. Dopamine - ability to imitate other people’s facial expressions due to the presumed activity of dopaminergic mirror neurons

1. I can reproduce another person’s grimaces very accurately after them. 0,96
2. I can copy other people’s facial expressions and grimaces. 0,97
3. I can copy and demonstrate other people’s poses and manner of body movements. 0,97
4. As a child I often “aped” others, copying other people. 0,87
5. I can reproduce and imitate other people’s movements very accurately. 0,76

Dopamine - ability to imitate other people’s facial expressions due to the presumed activity of dopaminergic mirror neurons

Dopamine cluster No. 6
(averaging the profiles of 5 scale questions, 5982 respondent responses in total)

7. Dopamine - ability to imitate other people’s speech due to the presumed activity of dopaminergic mirror neurons

1. I am good at sound imitation - better than most of my acquaintances, I can imitate, for example, a cat’s meow or a dog’s bark, a cow’s lowing, a rooster’s crow or the calls of various birds, a horse’s neigh, etc., something of that sort. 0,90
2. In my spare time I can accurately imitate the voice and intonation of a recent interlocutor. 0,89
3. I can copy another person’s manner of speech. 0,84
4. With my voice I can imitate another person’s intonation and manner of speaking quite well, down to the characteristic features and timbre of the other person’s voice. 0,83
5. I can easily and vividly imagine with my internal “mental hearing” the sound of a violin, cello, or grand piano. 0,77
6. Even if the sound on the television is turned off, I can understand individual words spoken by the announcer or actor from the movements of their lips. 0,74

7. It is difficult, almost impossible, for me to vividly imagine with my internal “hearing” the living voices of my relatives, acquaintances, and friends - with their characteristic timbre, coloration, and intonations. -0,71
8. It is difficult for me to reproduce exactly (sing back) a melody I have heard - my musical ear is worse than that of many other people. -0,87

Dopamine - ability to imitate other people’s speech due to the presumed activity of dopaminergic mirror neurons

Dopamine cluster No. 7
(averaging the profiles of 8 scale questions, 8431 respondent responses in total)

8. Dopamine - increased excitability of the vomiting center

1. If I accidentally put a large caterpillar in my mouth together with berries and discover it, I will immediately have a nauseous reaction. 0,90
2. If I see a wriggling worm crawling out of uneaten food on a plate from which I have just eaten, I can easily vomit from disgust. 0,89
3. I quite often feel sick or nauseated - at least once a month or more often (without obvious reasons such as food poisoning). 0,88
4. I have a strongly developed sense of disgust - some things or objects are unpleasant even to touch, almost to the point of physical nausea. 0,87
5. I often experience the emotion of nauseating disgust. 0,83
6. I often experience nausea or abdominal pain. 0,80
7. I often develop nausea (and occasionally vomiting) for various reasons - in the morning from anxiety, or after eating, or even with slight motion sickness. 0,79
8. Do you experience, from anxiety or psychological tension, such a strong feeling of nausea that it seems that just a little more and you will “vomit” what is in your stomach? (indicate the number of the appropriate response option): 5) at least once a week, nausea from anxiety occurs; 4) it occurs at least once a month; 3) it occurs, but even less often; 2) I remember something similar only once or twice in my entire life; 1) it has never happened. 0,70
9. In the morning, shortly after waking, I often develop nausea (especially if I am anxious and hurrying somewhere). 0,51
10. More than once in my life I have had attacks of nausea due to nerves (apart from food poisoning, pregnancy, ulcers, and other obvious causes of that kind). 0,45

11. With food poisoning I more often get diarrhea, but very rarely nausea. -0,31
12. I definitely do not remember ever feeling nauseated in the morning “due to nerves”. -0,75

Dopamine - increased excitability of the vomiting center

Dopamine cluster No. 8
(averaging the profiles of 12 scale questions, 15153 respondent responses in total)

9. Dopamine - increased sensitivity to odors (when the CNS DA system is blocked, one of the first symptoms is loss of smell)

1. I can easily mentally, but vividly, imagine the smell of blooming roses (check). 0,94
2. I often notice in the air even the slightest smell of another person’s body and sweat. 0,91
3. I have a very keen sense of smell. 0,88
4. I can easily and vividly imagine any smell “on demand”. 0,88
5. I am very sensitive to the unpleasant smell of some people. 0,86
6. I can easily retrieve from memory and vividly imagine the smell of mint (check). 0,86
7. I remember some smells from my childhood. 0,85
8. I quickly notice even very faint unpleasant smells, sharply acidic or putrid ones. 0,83
9. I can easily mentally, but vividly, imagine the smell of apples. 0,81
10. I am always very attentive to smells and taste sensations. 0,80
11. I can easily retrieve from memory and imagine the unpleasant smell of rotten meat or decaying fish (check). 0,79
12. I notice new smells in a room earlier than other people do. 0,79
13. I have a keen sense of smell. 0,78
14. When I hear the name and see a photograph of familiar flowers (roses, daffodils, lilies of the valley, peonies, etc.), I sometimes involuntarily begin to smell them. 0,77
15. I am very sensitive to smells. 0,77
16. I cannot stand disgusting smells. I cannot do anything properly while they are present. 0,68
17. I can mentally imagine and sense “on demand” some unpleasant smell - for example, rotten fish and the like. 0,68
18. I can distinguish familiar people by their individual smell. 0,60
19. Extraneous smells often distract and irritate me. 0,60
20. Many smells often irritate me. 0,55

21. I am surprised by people who are forever “sniffing around” and notice unpleasant smells where there clearly is no particular smell - this does not happen to me. -0,58
22. Sometimes acquaintances say that there is some smell in the air, while I notice nothing. -0,79
23. It is true that I am completely unable to imagine any smells “on demand”. -0,89

Dopamine - increased sensitivity to odors (when the CNS DA system is blocked, one of the first symptoms is loss of smell)

Dopamine cluster No. 9
(averaging the profiles of 22 scale questions, 44691 respondent responses in total)

10. Dopamine - strength of motivations

1. With regard to people I like, I can sometimes publicly express my enthusiasm. 0,88
2. I am a person with very strong desires and drives. 0,87
3. I have a very easily enthused nature. 0,84
4. I always instantly “go on point” at the scent of anticipation of something pleasant and immediately begin to “follow the trail”. 0,84
5. It is very difficult for me to give up pleasures that I have set my mind on. 0,79
6. I often succumb to temptation and then regret it. 0,77
7. Sometimes it is difficult for me to curb some of my drives even when I understand that they are dangerous for me. 0,77
8. I easily lose patience and flare up if, in response to my proposal based on verified experience of others that I have personally seen, I am presented with overly complicated and abstruse objections: why it will not work, why it cannot be done, and so on. 0,72
9. Every day of my life is filled with the pursuit of pleasures and the feeling of enjoyment obtained. 0,67
10. What more often influences your decisions? 1) General considerations of morality or order that regulate life. 5) Experiences, premonitions, or prospective benefits that arise as matters unfold. 0,63
11. My motivations are always strong and promising, and therefore very absorbing and compelling. 0,62
12. It is difficult for me to stop in the face of temptation. 0,62
13. It is very difficult for me to tear myself away from a pleasure once it has begun. 0,61
14. My desires can be intrusive and often interfere with me. 0,57
15. I still smoke, although I have tried to give up this habit. 0,53
16. My mood depends very strongly on daily successes or troubles. 0,48

17. What is more characteristic of you? - 1) The high from being engrossed. 5) The high from awareness of the stability, solidity, and security of one’s position. -0,03
18. I feel apathy, an absence of motivation to act. -0,27
19. I have low motivation to act. -0,38
20. I usually lack the motivation to do anything. -0,42
21. My motivations are weak; I often lack a drive toward anything. -0,47
22. It is true that lately I have constantly suffered because of a severe lack and weakening of motivations: nothing excites or affects me, all life goals and all the people around me seem meaningless, alien, and bland, although my mood background is almost even, without depression. -0,51
23. What I lack is simple animal instincts and drives; because of this I am often bored and do not know what to occupy myself with or what goal to set. -0,60
24. I easily cope with temptations. -0,66
25. I have a problem with desires and drives - I often feel a deficit of them. -0,66
26. I have no problems controlling my drives. -0,66
27. I am rarely strongly drawn to anything - it seems that I can do without everything. -0,77
28. My mood is somehow excessively “even”, excessively apathetic and passive; there is a noticeable lack of motivation and a “taste for life”. -0,83
29. My desires and drives are usually quite weak; it is difficult for me to emerge from indifferent contemplation. -0,87
30. I am very good at controlling and keeping my desires and impulses in check. -0,89

Dopamine - strength of motivations

Dopamine cluster No. 10
(averaging the profiles of 30 scale questions, 34366 respondent responses in total)

11. Dopamine - frequency of sensations of compelling anticipation

1. I perceive any new information and any new person joyfully and with enthusiasm. 0,94
2. I often experience a strong sense of uplift, of approaching happiness. 0,93
3. I am a cheerful optimist and readily take risks, relying on my intuition. 0,92
4. My emotions more often indicate and lay out my next new path than evaluate the path already traveled. 0,86
5. I often experience a feeling of pleasant anticipation that makes it impossible to sit still and makes my heart pound. 0,84
6. I frequently (at least several times a week) experience sensations of pleasant anticipation in which the heart rate accelerates, breathing becomes more frequent, a surge is felt in the blood, thinking becomes lightning-fast, there is a feeling of lightness in the body, and even one’s gait, in expectation of a pleasant event, becomes flying. 0,80
7. When beginning a task or an attack, I am always full of joyful anticipation of success. 0,80
8. There are many joys and anticipations of joyful events in my life; I know how to enjoy life. 0,79
9. I always instantly “go on point” at the scent of anticipation of something pleasant and immediately begin to “follow the trail”. 0,73
10. Acute anticipation of something tasty-interesting and pleasant is a frequent feeling that is very familiar to me. 0,63
11. I feel anticipation while examining new objects. 0,58
12. Anticipation of a reward always arouses a strong desire in me. 0,41

13. What makes you happy more often? - 1) The race for achievements, pleasant finds, and their anticipation. 5) Awareness of your own importance, significance, and authority in the group. 0,25
14. What more often makes you happy and invigorates you - 1) Exciting anticipation of winning. 5) Respect from other people. -0,15
15. What is more characteristic of your positive emotions (outside sex)? - 1) A feeling of anticipation and then rapidly increasing, but subsequently passing, “dissolving” pleasure; 5) An even background of calmly good mood without an increased striving toward anything. -0,59
16. I do not remember having experienced, during the last month, excited joy from any achievements or their anticipation. -0,66
17. I often lack feelings of anticipation of joy and pleasure from life. -0,70
18. Sudden finds more often evoke tense apprehension in me than anticipation of joy. -0,75
19. The future often seems indifferent, colorless, and meaningless to me. -0,85
20. I more often experience: 1) episodes of sudden joy of achievement or anticipation of such joy. 5) episodes of sudden distress or expectation of trouble. -0,85
21. At the same time, among my shortcomings are excessive distrust of new people and new methods, indecision, as well as a tendency to doubt my abilities and possibilities. -0,87
22. I more often stop someone than encourage someone toward something. -0,88
23. In most of my states, in terms of mood, I am closer to “minor” than to “major”. -0,89

Dopamine - frequency of sensations of compelling anticipation

Dopamine cluster No. 11
(averaging the profiles of 23 scale questions, 38930 respondent responses in total)

12. Dopamine - increased salt consumption (dopamine causes accelerated sodium excretion from the body)

1. Tomato and vegetable salads in cafes and canteens usually seem undersalted to me. 0,87
2. I like all kinds of pickled and salted foods and often eat quite a lot of them (herring, or pickled cucumbers, or sauerkraut, salted mushrooms, etc.). 0,79
3. Food often seems undersalted to me - probably because I generally like salty foods. 0,58
4. Practically every day I like to have something salty with lunch (salted fish, pickled vegetables, etc.). 0,45
5. I am drawn to salty foods. 0,36
6. I often want something salty. 0,19

7. I consume salt daily with food, probably in a smaller quantity than other people - I rarely eat salty foods. -0,84

Dopamine - increased salt consumption (dopamine causes accelerated sodium excretion from the body)

Dopamine cluster No. 12
(averaging the profiles of 1 scale question, 13781 respondent responses in total)

© V. L. Talanov 2020

Free reproduction is permitted with attribution of the author and a hyperlink to this original preprint: http://otkroysebya.ru/dopamine.docx