What Is Neurosocionics and Why Is It Needed?

We will explain the essence of neurosocionics with a concrete example, using the personality trait "IDEALISM – CYNICISM".

This is one of the 19 generalized personality traits discussed in Ivan Romanov’s article, "Some Important Psychological Traits of Personality in Projection onto a Set of Socionic Types, Traits, and Functions" (https://danidin.ucoz.net/index/profili_svojstv_1/0-37).

To start, let’s recall that to obtain the socionic profiles of the generalized trait "IDEALISM – CYNICISM", I. Romanov averaged previously known socionic profiles of the following personality traits:

1. Rejection of a consumerist life stance
2. Aversion to the principle "the end justifies the means," rejection of a cynical attitude toward people as expendable material
3. No inclination toward a "thief’s morality" and its associated pragmatic reasoning
4. Greater interest in seeking hidden meanings rather than applying something in practice
5. Indifference to money and material possessions
6. Interest in philosophy and abstract concepts
7. Dreaminess
8. Ability to see the extraordinary in the ordinary
9. Has been so deeply in love that they became obsessively fixated on one person to the point of neurosis; has experienced love at first sight
10. Mystical experiences
11. Has taboos in sex
12. Fidelity in marriage
13. Altruistic heroism

Now, let's begin our own analysis.

To identify (and thereby verify) the substantive content of the resulting integral trait, it is necessary and sufficient to analyze the content of all questionnaire items whose type profiles highly correlate with the type profile of the examined trait. We did just that, compiling a list of approximately three hundred questionnaire items.

First, we found that there is no distinct "cynicism" among the questions negatively correlated with this trait’s profile. There are some elements of cynicism (though rare), but a significant number of elements of pragmatism. Thus, a more accurate name for this personality trait would be "IDEALISM – CYNICAL PRAGMATISM" or even simply "IDEALISM – PRAGMATISM" rather than "IDEALISM – CYNICISM."

The idealism pole is confirmed by the following highly correlated socionic profile questions (correlations above ±0.80):

1. I have a very sensitive imagination.
2. I can easily imagine sacrificing myself for some sacred idea.
3. Throughout my life, understanding the meaning of life—over decades, centuries, and eternity—has been more important to me than solving a few current tasks.
4. In my thoughts and concerns about the fate of the world, humanity, or my nation, I am more of a selfless idealist than a pragmatist.
5. I am interested in mysterious phenomena, I love to be alone and reflect on the meaning of life, the past, and the future.
6. I often get lost in thought, drifting into worlds of fantasy.
7. If I immerse myself in fantasy, I sometimes almost lose contact with the real world.
8. I can see something extremely original and unusual in small details of imaginary objects and phenomena.
9. The present excites and interests me little—dreams are more engaging.
10. Sometimes, I entertain myself by trying to see myself through the eyes of the person I am talking to at that moment.
11. I am capable of falling in love with a person I have never seen.
12. I often think about abstract philosophical topics.
13. I like to recognize and nurture people's talents.
14. It is important to me that the profession I engage in has a certain touch of romanticism.
15. Love has driven me to complete neurosis when I became entirely fixated on one person and my desire for them.
16. My imagination works like a powerful amplifier—it can take small traits in a person and exaggerate them into a caricatured grotesque.

On the opposite end, the following questions have negative correlations:

1. I don’t understand people who spend a lot of time on what they call "playing with imagination."
2. Sex is understandable, but an obsessive, fanatical love for a specific person is hard for me to grasp.
3. The inability to secure a decent status and quality of life is scarier to me than the inability to realize my ideas.
4. I prefer working with concrete things rather than fictional or theoretical ones.
5. People preoccupied with global justice annoy me; I don’t have much respect for them.
6. My world is the real world—imaginary worlds are not for me.
7. The present is more or less understandable to me, but the future is unclear and therefore uninteresting.
8. I am indifferent to theories; I focus on practical activities and prefer clear, concrete goals that bring tangible benefits.
9. I care deeply about "my own people" (more than most others do), while "outsiders" don’t interest me.
10. One should serve their employer, not humanity.
11. I don’t enjoy philosophizing.
12. Abstract justice is harmful nonsense.
13. I deal more with real values and needs than with fanciful speculations.
14. I would rather leave my descendants a beautifully built and comfortable house than a pile of smart books filled with discoveries and revelations.
15. The work I do must produce a tangible, measurable product.
16. I have plans, but hardly any fantasies.

However, questions that directly describe the opposition of IDEALISM – PRAGMATISM make up only a minority of all correlates of this trait (less than a third). And what are the other correlates of this property? Let's consider them in order, because they characterize, as we will see, the neurobiological basis of this property.

NEUROBIOLOGICAL FEATURES CAN BE CONSIDERED AT TWO LEVELS.
The first, most general level is that of neurotransmitters and neurohormones, meaning the characteristics of individual neurotransmitter and neurohormonal activity. The second level is the level of brain neural networks, specifically hyperactivation or, conversely, weak and insufficient functional activity of certain brain structures.
Each type profile has such neurobiological features.

Let's start with neurotransmitters and neurohormones.

A very strong correlate of the "idealistic" pole turned out to be a predisposition to obsessive thoughts, mental "chewing gum"—even on the verge of transitioning into auditory productive symptoms. Here are examples of positively correlated questionnaire items (with R ranging from +0.86 to +0.90):

1. Sometimes, throughout the day, I repeatedly evoke the same thought multiple times in a row.
2. I have obsessive thoughts that are difficult to let go of because they have become habitually pleasant.
3. Sometimes, I get stuck for a long time thinking about various fears, simultaneously deriving increasing pleasure from inventing ways to avoid them.
4. I often "savor" my thoughts, getting increasing enjoyment from them—so much so that I can't stop.
5. Sometimes, I spend the entire evening ruminating and worrying about what I need to do, what I haven't done, what I can't do, what must be done, or what will happen if something isn't done, etc.
6. I frequently have obsessive, repetitive thoughts, including in the evening, which keeps me from falling asleep (sleep just doesn’t come).
7. Many things retrieved from memory or imagination are just as important, real, and undeniable to me as those that can be touched and felt.
8. Some thoughts and mental images simply haunt me.
9. Sometimes, I find it difficult to control my thoughts—they seem to take on a life of their own, independent of my will.
10. Sometimes, I hear imaginary voices in my head that are hard to silence or suppress by willpower.
11. Sometimes, my thoughts sound as if coming "from the outside," as if there is a radio inside my head that I can’t turn off.

In psychology, all these questions are considered markers of schizotypy, and in neuroscience as markers of INCREASED mesolimbic dopamine activity with simultaneous WEAKENING of mesocortical dopamine activity. At the same time, these markers also indicate a general decrease in serotonin activity in the brain. So, we've already identified the first neurobiological characteristic of "idealists".

An even larger group of questions positively correlated with "idealism" are characterized by increased anxiety, a predisposition to fears and panic reactions. The presence of these traits is usually viewed in neuroscience as a marker of reduced serotonin activity. However, they are also often interpreted as a marker of hyperactivation of the basal ganglia of the brain—with a decrease in GABAergic activity in them and an increase in dopaminergic activity:

1. I have repeatedly experienced terror attacks when my head fills with panic thoughts, my breathing quickens, sweat breaks out, my muscles tense, and my hands turn cold.
2. Sometimes, I get stuck in a "suffering" mindset for a long time and can’t get out of this role.
3. I am often bothered by an inner sense of fear or rising panic.
4. I react painfully to any awkward situations in social interactions.
5. I frequently experience fears or panic states.
6. My self-esteem constantly fluctuates, and it is often very low.
7. A high level of fearfulness and anxiety is normal for me.
8. Recurring anxiety attacks are common for me.
9. I often feel fear or anxiety.
10. I often feel nervous before starting anything.
11. I often feel scared.
12. Sometimes, I get so anxious that it becomes difficult to breathe.
13. I have panic attacks (at least once a month or more often).

The third sign is dizziness. It indicates an increase in overall dopaminergic activity:

1. I often experience dizziness when standing, so much so that my vision becomes a little "dark," and I feel pulled to one side.
2. I often feel dizzy to the point where I lose my balance a little if I'm standing.
3. I frequently experience dizziness (5 - at least once a week, 4 - about once a month, 3 - on average once every six months, 2 - if it ever happened, it was a long time ago, just once or twice, 1 - I don't experience this at all).

The fourth group of signs is functional dysphagia (difficulty swallowing, a lump in the throat) and, along with it, severe movement coordination problems, poor muscle control, and reduced muscle tone (lack of "springiness"). All of these characteristics are considered in medicine and neuroscience as markers of decreased cholinergic activity. Decreased cerebral cholinergic activity is either due to weak acetylcholine production, or accelerated neutralization by the enzyme acetylcholinesterase, or a reduction in the number of cholinergic receptors, or a decrease in their sensitivity. Here are examples of questionnaire items in this group:

1. When I'm under nervous stress, I sometimes trip over almost flat ground, becoming clumsy in my movements.
2. When I’m nervous, my hands seem useless and even start to get in the way – I might accidentally knock something over with my hand.
3. Sometimes, I trip or even fall while walking.
4. When I'm agitated or worried, I begin to feel awkward in my gait.
5. Sometimes, while walking, I feel like I’m being "pulled" to one side.
6. I have poor balance – sometimes, while walking, I slightly sway to the sides, and it’s hard to stay still when told to "stand at attention."
7. Occasionally, I lose control over the coordination and sequence of my movements.
8. Sometimes, I notice that it’s difficult to perform a sequence of alternating movements – either there are pauses when transitioning from one movement to another, or an old movement starts to repeat automatically several times.
9. When I'm agitated or worried, I begin to feel awkward in my gait.
10. I often feel physically clumsy.
11. If I stand with my hands at my sides and feet together, then close my eyes for a few seconds, I immediately lose my balance, start to sway, and almost fall (try it yourself).
12. I tried to learn to type on a computer keyboard or play a keyboard instrument, but I constantly made many mistakes – it feels like my fingers, or something else about me, just aren't suited for it.
13. Sometimes, my own body feels foreign to me.
14. Sometimes, I can’t swallow liquids – I feel a "lump in my throat."
15. I often (or at least sometimes) experience difficulties swallowing or chewing solid food – it feels like my chewing muscles have become weak and don’t want to work.

Thus, at the psychological level, the idealistic personality pole is accompanied by increased schizothymia, a predisposition to obsessive thoughts and even auditory productive symptoms, coordination problems, instability in posture, dizziness, and a tendency toward heightened anxiety, fears, and panic reactions.

At the level of neurotransmitters, all of this is typically explained in neuroscience as a general weakening of cholinergic and serotonergic brain activity, alongside increased mesolimbic and decreased mesocortical dopaminergic activity. It is also highly likely that there is a reduction in GABAergic activity in the brain’s basal ganglia.

For the "idealists" pole, there is also likely a decrease in dopaminergic activity in the nigrostriatal pathway of the brain (responsible for the initiation and regulation of movements). This is particularly indicated by the frequent tendency for hand tremors that is often found in the "idealistic" pole (during physical exertion, dopamine reserves are depleted and temporarily exhausted, and tremors are a symptom of its deficiency in synapses):

1. Sometimes my fingers tremble – a glass, pencil, or another object shakes noticeably in my hand.
2. Sometimes, a glass or plate shakes in my hand.
3. After physical exertion (like running, doing squats, carrying something heavy, etc.), I often experience shaking or trembling in my fingers for several minutes afterward (even though I may not have used my hands directly).

In terms of neuromediator and neurohormonal characteristics of "idealists", it is worth noting a couple more markers.

• First, they have a low need for animal proteins, especially glutamic acid (indifference to the taste of meat or even finding its taste unpleasant at times).
• Second, "idealists" are generally characterized by a narrow-boned, slender physique. This may indicate weak peripheral serotonin function (which is responsible for bone density and thickness), increased growth hormone activity, as well as several other factors (such as reduced androgen activity).

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As for the strengthening (hyperactivation) or weakening (hypoactivity) of certain brain structures, there are also clear markers associated with idealism, indicating hyperfunction of certain brain areas.

We have already mentioned the signs of hyperactivation of the basal ganglia, so we won’t repeat that. We also previously stated that "idealists" exhibit a weakened function of the dopaminergic nigrostriatal pathways responsible for movement.
Now, let’s add to this list a clear increase in activity of the so-called "default mode network" of the brain, which includes the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), the hippocampus, and the precuneus (located at the junction of the temporal and parietal cortical areas). The default mode network is involved in Ni and Ne mechanisms, which are significantly heightened in "idealists".

If more concrete evidence of this is needed, then the ease with which "idealists" experience states of anxiety and intrusive memories points to hyperactivation of the ACC with weakened inhibitory serotonin influences. Additionally, their frequent mental visualization of past events or imagined future scenarios indicates hyperactivity of the hippocampus and precuneus (i.e., the posterior medial parietal regions of the neocortex, involved in autobiographical memory retrieval).
Here are some example questions strongly correlated with the "idealist" pole:

1. It feels like there’s a permanently pressed reset button in my head, continuously loading the same thoughts, even when I try to get rid of them.
2. Certain memories persistently haunt me.
3. I often enjoy mentally visualizing various imagined future scenarios and playing with them.
4. Sometimes I think in detail about how my life would have turned out differently if I had chosen another educational institution, a different job, etc.
5. I frequently experience recurring, persistent obsessive thoughts (the so-called "mental chewing gum") that are almost impossible to shake off.
6. I constantly "replay" various possible event developments in my mind, involving the corresponding participants.
7. I often mentally "rehearse versions" of my personal past—how things might have unfolded if only…

Thus, we have identified a hypothetical neurobiological portrait of "idealists", describing both the specifics of their neurotransmitter functions and the activity patterns of key brain structures. We have done this using socionic profiles and relying on psychological markers indicative of neurobiological phenomena.

All of this is what can be referred to as NEUROSOCIONICS.

Yes, neurosocionics only allows us to propose hypotheses about the functioning of neurotransmitter systems and various brain structures in people with different psychological types. While these hypotheses can be considered highly probable, they are not direct experimental evidence obtained through functional brain tomography or direct studies of cerebral neurotransmitter and neurohormonal activity. However, the very fact that socionics allows to put forward corresponding neurobiological hypotheses significantly narrows the scope of subsequent neurobiological research, and that alone is a major achievement.