Do You Have An Introvert's Brain?

Some brains just function differently than others.

Like an introvert’s brain, the view from Bernal Hill is complex, beautiful, and at times overwhelming. Photo by Michael Skrzypek.

Dear Voyagers,

I first created Beautiful Voyager nine years ago for “my people” — overthinkers, people pleasers, and perfectionists. Since then, my understanding of Voyagers has evolved and changed. Here’s the most recent description from the Bevoya homepage:

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Voyagers are the people who make up the Beautiful Voyager community. At heart, we’re a bunch of sensitive internal travelers. Yes, Voyagers are overthinkers, people pleasers, and perfectionists, but that’s really shorthand for a certain type of person who struggles with stress, anxiety, and overthinking. Some may describe Voyagers as Highly Sensitive People, others may talk about our easily stimulated brains, and of course the word “neurotic” will be salad dressing tossed into the mix. But however you make sense of these traits, they are special, and they are what make up the Beautiful Voyager community. Explore the Voyager Lighthouse map to find the Voyager closest to you right now!

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If you click on that link to “easily stimulated brain” you’ll be taken to a pop psychology article from Business Insider that gives a high level overview on the biological differences between extroverts and introverts.¹ Let’s dig into that a bit more together:

How an introvert’s brain differs from an extrovert’s

• An introvert’s brain has a thicker prefrontal cortex, or more tissue in the area of the brain associated with deep thought and decision-making.

• An introvert’s brain has fewer dopamine receptors and is more sensitive to dopamine, which makes introverts less likely to seek it out. Extroverts need more dopamine to feel happy because they are less sensitive to it.²

• The dominant chemical brain pathway in an introvert’s brain is acetylcholine. An introvert’s brain has more acetylcholine receptors.³ Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter that affects areas of the brain related to learning, attention and long term memory.

How physiological differences impact the nervous system

• Physiologically-speaking, introverts hit the starting line feeling more stimulated than extroverts do. Another way of putting it: “[Introverts] already have pressure within themselves.”⁴

• An introvert’s brain takes in a lot of data from the world around it — at times, more data than the nervous system is able to process. This causes a sense of urgency in the need to resolve the discrepancy. I know that urgency well. I call it anxiety.

• The introvert’s brain is built to do deeper thinking. People with this kind of physiology tend to be independent thinkers, less swayed by external events and more driven by their inner moral compass.⁵

• As a result of how they process information, an introvert’s nervous system responds to triggers faster and holds the charge of those responses longer. Even in a relaxed state, the introverted brain is more active and has increased blood flow compared to the extroverted brain.

What this might look like in real life

• Due to the way our nervous systems hold the charge of past events, introverts are more likely to remember that random frustrating thing that happened this morning. When an extrovert says that they barely remember something, one way to interpret that is that their nervous systems are unable to hold the charge.

• Introverts are said to have a “deeper, more complex sense of others.” Which means an introverted brain may notice details about the people around them that an extroverted brain doesn’t tune into.

• Introverts tend to be more nostalgic than extroverts. Sounds, smells, and physical sensations imprint on the introvert nervous system deeply and can be brought back to the surface quickly. Proust must have had this kind of physiology.

• The extrovert’s physiology is more resilient than the introvert’s.⁶ If you have an introvert’s brain you’re prone to having an overwhelmed nervous system. A wise man recently said to me, “There is nothing you can do about being less resilient physiologically, but you can get better at coping.”

Introverts aren’t shy.

Introverts don’t turn inward or avoid crowds because they are shy. We turn inward because of the massive overwhelm of unprocessed data our system tends to take in. This was so helpful for me to understand: I am driven to write in order to process the information swirling around me. It’s a regulation strategy!

What does this mean for Voyagers?

Voyagers are sensitive people who are working to understand themselves in the context of the world around them. I suspect — tell me if I’m wrong — that many of my readers fall on the introverted side of the spectrum. We need more coping and regulation strategies, including firmer boundaries, than people with the extroverted physiology.

My husband and I jokingly call our sensitive, talented, pain-in-the-ass dog June bug a Ferrari. “She’s so sleek and powerful,” we’ll say admiringly. “She can do things that no other dog at the dog park can do.”

But just like a Ferrari, June bug requires deliberate maintenance and care. She can’t be around cell phone notifications, for example, without being reduced to a quivering mess.⁷ “We’re Toyota people with a Ferrari dog,” we say, carrying her crate to the quietest space in our small house.

The same goes for Voyagers. We, too, are Ferraris that require special care. You don’t get the talents of the introvert’s brain — a heightened ability for deep thinking, focused concentration, excellent observation skills, strong analytical capabilities, creative problem-solving, and a propensity for thoughtful decision-making⁸—without facing the struggles. According to my EMDR therapist, “The biggest nervous system challenge for introverts is to stop internalizing the shame message.”

If you recognize yourself in the descriptions I’ve shared above, then this is a step you can take today. Accept that your brain and nervous system work differently from others. Celebrate the good stuff — the differences that make you feel proud. Confront the hard stuff — the differences that make life a little harder. The sooner you do this, the sooner you can move on to the most important voyaging work of building internal safety and peace.

Just two Ferraris hanging out on the couch, cell phones silenced.

1. Research on the introvert’s brain will always remind you that every human falls on the spectrum — no one is purely an extrovert or introvert, but most people tend to land towards one side or the other.

2. One adorably nerdy neuroscience education site summarizes the dopamine receptor difference like this: “The more they talk, move, and engage in stimulating activities, the more extroverts feel dopamine’s pleasant effects. In contrast, introverts are sensitive to dopamine, so all of that stimulation makes them feel overwhelmed and anxious.”

3. This is well-described in this Linkedin post summarizing key points from the book The Introvert Advantage by Marti Olsen Laney. I love some of the comments on the post like this one, “Just learning the fact that as an introvert, our brain goes to 5 to 6 different places to process information utilizing acetylcholine loops. It takes longer. Where as for extroverts it’s a pretty simple one loop dopamine process.” As a mechanistic thinker, this kind of information is very helpful and valuable!

4. From the same Business Insider piece. I like that this piece is trying to simplify the neuroscience and just cut to the chase.

5. This point feels especially resonant for me these days as I work to navigate a polarized political scene in the United States. My brain is made to see the grey zones, not just black and white.

6. Don’t shoot the messenger.

7. Until you have a dog who is petrified of text alerts you don’t realize how ubiquitous they are in everyday life.

8. Google “the strengths of the introvert brain” and you will see this list, and much more.