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the faster auditory pathway.
5. Left Amygdala —Threat System: Triggers fear, anxiety, and anger if a real or perceived threat. Dopamine initiates acting without thought.
6. Right and Left Front Cingulate Gyrus —Social Secretary: Party central; stops or starts speaking, triggers interest in others, shifts attention quickly for good cocktail party skills. Focuses on the outside world, pleasure, and what’s new and exciting. Based on emotional signals, the automatic nervous system and speaking are started or stopped.
7. Right and Left Temporal Lobes —Processor: Processes and integrates emotions, external sensory input, and learning. Working memory operates here. Sends messages up to the motor area to move muscles.
    A little understood but highly important fact is that acetylcholine activates another reward system. It’s subtle, but very powerful. The acetylcholine pathway travels from the brain stem, stimulating aspects of hearing and seeing linked to learning, all the way up to the executive brain functions in the frontal lobes. It travels a feedback loop between the brain and the body’s “Put on the Brakes” system. Researchers found that rats will give up food and sex in order to be stimulated on the acetylcholine pathway. When human brains are stimulated by acetylcholine they feel alert, enjoy what they’re doing, and are more relaxed. When we’re using our noodles, acetylcholine releases potent but delicate “hap hits” (a term happiness researchers use for feelings of satisfaction and enjoyment). This explains why some introverts derive profound satisfaction from studying, say, a single type of beetle for their entire life. For extroverts this mild reward is hardly noticeable.
    Dopamine is most commonly known as the major reward pathway in the brain, influencing a number of powerful dopamine reward routes. Extroverts primarily travel on one of the dopamine pathways that releases extremely gratifying “hap hits.” These rewards promote novelty-seeking behavior, quick actions, and the urge to move quickly in order to get more of them. Dopamine pathways can promote addiction, because they release quick, intense zaps of elation. For introverts, however, a jolt of dopamine can cause anxiety and overstimulation.
    Innie and Outie Pathways
    Debra L. Johnson and her colleagues conducted a brain-imaging study using positron emission tomography (PET) on the brain activity of people with established introverted and extroverted temperaments. Their findings, which were published in the American Journal of Psychiatry , showed that extroverts and introverts had different amounts of blood flowing to different regions of the brain. Extroverts had lower blood flow in the behavioral inhibition system in the frontal lobes, but more activity in the back of the brain, in areas that underlie an intense thirst for sensory and emotional stimuli. Introverts hadhigher blood flow in the frontal lobes —home to the system that inhibits behavior and promotes planning and thinking before acting.
    Dr. Johnson and other researchers provide us with a detailed map of the acetylcholine and dopamine pathways involved. ( Note : The illustrations and descriptions depicting these on page 28 –29 are highly simplified.)
    Put on the Brakes or Give It the Gas
    “ Every body has a story .” — From the TV show , Dr. G: Medical Examiner
    The brain is a ball of electrical activity. As children grow, their brains harness and organize all the electrical activity by creating pathways and networks that stop and start thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Remember how your infant waved his hand around and finally was able to grasp a sippy cup? As pathways are developed, they increase the child’s ability to focus energy so he can gain physical, intellectual, and psychological control.
    As children grow, they gather sensory input from their bodies and the environment, evaluate it, and generate more sophisticated and appropriate responses. An appropriate