Decoding Personality Trait Measures from Resting EEG: An Exploratory Report

Abstract

Can personality be predicted from oscillatory patterns produced by the brain at rest? To date, relatively few electroencephalographic (EEG) studies have yielded consistent relations between personality trait measures and spectral power, suggesting that new exploratory research may help develop targeted hypotheses about how neural processes associated with EEG activity may relate to personality differences. We used multivariate pattern analysis to decode personality scores (i.e., Big Five traits) from resting EEG frequency power spectra. Up to 8 minutes of EEG data was recorded per participant prior to completing an unrelated task (N = 168, Mage = 23.51, 57% female) and, in a subset of partic..