View Single Post
Old 12-29-2010, 08:37 AM   #1 (permalink)
Baraka_Guru
warrior bodhisattva
 
Baraka_Guru's Avatar
 
Super Moderator
Location: East-central Canada
Conservatives have larger area of the brain associated with fear: study

There are a number of studies being released regarding brain research. See this TFP thread here for a discussion on brain structures and socializing: http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/general...cializing.html

The study reported below makes an association between those with right-wing views and a larger area of the brain associated with fear:
Quote:
Political views 'hard-wired' into your brain
Tories may be born not made, claims a study that suggests people with right wing views have a larger area of the brain associated with fear.

Richard Alleyne
By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent 5:00PM GMT 28 Dec 2010

Scientists have found that people with conservative views have brains with larger amygdalas, almond shaped areas in the centre of the brain often associated with anxiety and emotions.

On the other hand, they have a smaller anterior cingulate, an area at the front of the brain associated with courage and looking on the bright side of life.

The "exciting" correlation was found by scientists at University College London who scanned the brains of two members of parliament and a number of students.

They found that the size of the two areas of the brain directly related to the political views of the volunteers.

However as they were all adults it was hard to say whether their brains had been born that way or had developed through experience.

Prof Geraint Rees, who led the research, said: "We were very surprised to find that there was an area of the brain that we could predict political attitude.

"It is very surprising because it does suggest there is something about political attitude that is encoded in our brain structure through our experience or that there is something in our brain structure that determines or results in political attitude."

Prof Rees and his team, who carried out the research for the Today programme on BBC Radio 4, looked at the brain make up of the Labour MP Stephen Pound and Alan Duncan, the Conservative Minister of State for International Development using a scanner.

They also questioned a further 90 students, who had already been scanned for other studies, about their political views.

The results, which will be published next year, back up a study that showed that some people were born with a "Liberal Gene" that makes people more likely to seek out less conventional political views.

The gene, a neurotransmitter in the brain called DRD4, could even be stimulated by the novelty value of radical opinions, claimed the researchers at the University of California.
Political views 'hard-wired' into your brain - Telegraph

The particular angle here is that the study points to brain structure as a signifier of political affiliation.
  • Do you believe political associations are dictated by brain structures? i.e. are politics hardwired?
  • Is it possible for an extreme conservative to become a deep-seated liberal or vice versa?
  • Is there a "liberal gene"?
  • Does this study lead you to believe that conservative politics are fuelled by fear?

I usually take these studies with a grain of salt. The brain is so complex, and human behaviour is still a largely misunderstood thing. However, these findings are interesting.

I tend to view conservatives as people who react to things they don't trust or believe in or accept into their own lives. Many tend to think that the acceptance of something new will somehow rip at the very fabric of society. Many disapprove of a lot of things, and it's difficult to know what they do approve of. So I guess that is a kind of fear.

I don't see this as an absolute. I know that politics are a spectrum. I'm more or less commenting on what I've observed in people. There are a few people who I have trouble pegging as either conservative or liberal, and so I guess these people are generally "moderates" for the lack of a better word.

Anyway, what do you think of the study? Of the theory?
__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Last edited by Baraka_Guru; 12-29-2010 at 08:44 AM..
Baraka_Guru is offline  
 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360