Cardiac Signatures of Personality

Background There are well-established relations between personality and the heart, as evidenced by associations between negative emotions on the one hand, and coronary heart disease or chronic heart failure on the other. However, there are substantial gaps in our knowledge about relations between the heart and personality in healthy individuals. Here, we investigated whether amplitude patterns of the electrocardiogram (ECG) correlate with neurotisicm, extraversion, agreeableness, warmth, positive emotion, and tender-mindedness as measured with the Neuroticism-Extraversion-Openness (NEO) personality inventory. Specifically, we investigated (a) whether a cardiac amplitude measure that was previously reported to be related to flattened affectivity (referred to as values) would explain variance of NEO scores, and (b) whether correlations can be found between NEO scores and amplitudes of the ECG. Methodology/Principal Findings NEO scores and rest ECGs were obtained from 425 healthy individuals. Neuroticism and positive emotion significantly differed between individuals with high and low values. In addition, stepwise cross- validated regressions indicated correlations between ECG amplitudes and (a) agreeableness, as well as (b) positive emotion. Conclusions/Significance These results are the first to demonstrate that ECG amplitude patterns provide information about the personality of an individual as measured with NEO personality scales and facets. These findings open new perspectives for a more efficient personality assessment using cardiac measures, as well as for more efficient risk-stratification and pre-clinical diagnosis of individuals at risk for cardiac, affective and psychosomatic disorders

NEO-scores, heart rate variability values, and body characteristics (means, with SD in parentheses), separately for the group with values below and above the median of values.

<p> and values indicate results of independent samples tests, significant test results are indicated by bold font. The outermost right column provides effect sizes as indicated by Cohen's (Hedges' bias correction, values >.2 indicate moderate effect sizes). Abbrevations: BMI: body mass index (body weight/body height); HF (n.u.): high frequency power (0.15–0.4 Hz) of the HRV in normalized units; HRV: heart rate variability; LF (n.u.): low frequency power (0.04–0.15 Hz) of the HRV in normalized units; RMSSD: root mean square of the SD of successive heart beat intervals.</p

Group comparisons between individuals with values above and below the median of values.

<p>Individuals with higher values had lower neuroticism (<b>a</b>), and higher positive emotion scores (<b>b</b>). Moreover, individuals with higher values had lower normalized LF power, higher normalized HF power, and a lower LF/HF ratio (<b>c</b>). Abbrevations: LF (n.u.): low frequency power (0.04–0.15 Hz) of the HRV in normalized units; HF (n.u.): high frequency power (0.15–0.4 Hz) of the HRV in normalized units; LF/HF: ratio of low frequency power to high frequency power.</p

Illustration of ECG waves and values.

<p>(<b>a</b>) Illustration of standard ECG leads: The six extremity leads (I, II, III, aVL, aVR, aVF) record voltage differences by means of electrodes placed on the limbs (left panel). The triangle shows the spatial relationships of the extremity leads, which record electrical voltages onto the frontal plane of the body. The six chest leads (V1–V6) record voltage differences by means of electrodes placed on the chest wall (right panel). The oval indicates spatial relationships of the six chest leads, which record electrical voltages transmitted onto the horizontal plane. (<b>b</b>) Illustration of ECG amplitude parameters used in the present study (P-, R-, RS-, and T-waves, each wave is measured from each of the twelve ECG leads in each individual). Due to the absence of a Q-wave in some individuals at some leads, the R-wave is measured with regard to the iso-electric line. (<b>c</b>) Illustration of ECG amplitude parameters used to calculate values (indicated in red): R-wave of III (measured from the baseline preceding the P-wave), RS-complex of aVL, T-wave of aVL, and RS-complex of the chest lead with the maximal RS amplitude (usually V3 or V2). The upper panel shows averaged ECG cycles measured from a male subject with a high value (90th percentile of our study population), the lower panel shows averaged ECG cycles from a male subject with a low value (10th percentile of our study population). Both subjects had similar body height (184 vs. 185 cm), body weigt (70 vs. 72 kg), and normal QRS axis orientation (96.23 vs. 75.24). Note the smaller T-wave in aVL in relation to the RS-wave in aVL, and the smaller R-wave in III in relation to the RS-wave in V3, in the subject with low value (lower panel), compared to the subject with high value (upper panel). (<b>d</b>) Equation for computation of values. Computation of the ECG amplitude parameters shown in (<b>c</b>) leads to an value of 1.61 for the ECG shown in the upper, and an value of 0.17 for the ECG shown in the lower panel of (<b>c</b>) (for a better readability, values are scaled by a factor ). Abbrevations: : R-wave of lead III (measured from the baseline preceding the P-wave); : RS-complex of aVL; : RS-complex of the chest lead with the maximal RS amplitude; : T- wave of aVL.</p

Increases in negative affective arousal precede lower self-esteem in patients with borderline personality disorder but not in patients with depressive disorders: an experience sampling approach

Abstract Background Instability in self-esteem and instability in affect are core features of borderline personality disorder (BPD). For decades, researchers and theorists have been interested in the temporal dynamics between these constructs. Some hypothesize that changes in affective states should precede changes in self-esteem (Linehan, Cognitive-behavioral treatment of borderline personality disorder. Diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders, 1993), while others suggest that changes in self-esteem should precede changes in affective states (Kernberg, Borderline conditions and pathological narcissism, 1975). Methods In this study, we investigated the temporal relations between negative affective arousal states and current self-esteem in daily life. Patients with BPD (n = 42) or depressive disorders (DD; n = 40), and non-clinical controls (NCC; n = 40) were assessed every 15 min for 13 h. Results As expected, dynamic structural equation modeling showed higher levels of average daily negative affective arousal and lower levels of average daily self-esteem in the BPD group compared with the NCC group, and scores in the DD group were in-between the BPD and the NCC groups. In line with predictions based on Linehan’s (Cognitive-behavioral treatment of borderline personality disorder. Diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders, 1993) model of affective dysregulation in BPD, negative affective arousal (t) and subsequent self-esteem (t+ 1) were significantly linked only in the BPD group, implying that higher negative affective arousal is followed by lower current self-esteem in the next measurement (ca. 15 min later). Importantly, self-esteem (t) and subsequent negative affective arousal (t + 1) were not significantly related (Kernberg, Borderline conditions and pathological narcissism, 1975). Conclusions Our findings suggest close dynamic temporal relations between affective instability and self-esteem instability in BPD, which highlights the importance of providing patients with means to effectively modulate high negative affective arousal states