If you listen to Radio 4's Today Programme on any given day, you'll inevitably hear a spectrum of politic views from socialist through liberal to conservative. You may find yourself agreeing with the interviewee or irked by their politics depending on your own political persuasion.
Liberals and conservatives may find themselves disagreeing on issues as wide-ranging as the future of the NHS, the UK's involvement in Afghanistan and whether students should pay tuition fees at university, but could these differences be a result of different brain structures? New research commissioned by the Today Programme and led by Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow Professor Geraint Rees suggests that this may be so.
Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners, Professor Rees and his colleague Dr Ryota Kanai at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL (University College London) analysed the brain structures of ninety young adults who had reported their political attitudes on a scale from 'very conservative' to 'very liberal'. They found a strong correlation between an individual's view and the structure of the brain, particularly two regions.
People with liberal views tended to have increased grey matter in the anterior cingulated cortex, a region of the brain linked to decision-making, in particular when conflicting information is being presented. Previous research showed that electrical potentials recorded from this region during a task that involves responding to conflicting information were bigger in people who were more liberal or left wing than people who were more conservative.
Conservatives, meanwhile, found increased grey matter in the amygdala, an area of the brain associated with processing emotion. This difference is consistent with studies which show that people who consider themselves to be conservative respond to threatening situations with more aggression than do liberals and are more sensitive to threatening facial expressions.
Taken together, the findings suggest that, at least to some extent, political persuasions are encoded in the structure of the brain. However, given that the structure of even the adult brain can be altered with training, it is not clear whether these differences would affect a person's political choice or vice versa.
As part of the package broadcast on the Today Programme, the researchers also examined the brain structures of two MPs – Conservative MP Alan Duncan and Labour MP Steve Pound. Reassuringly, perhaps, the results tallied with the findings of their study.
I suppose this calls that quote by Churchill into question, you know "If you're not a liberal at twenty you have no heart, if you're not a conservative at forty you have no brain."
saxitoxin wrote:Your position is more complex than the federal tax code. As soon as I think I understand it, I find another index of cross-references, exceptions and amendments I have to apply.
Timminz wrote:Yo mama is so classless, she could be a Marxist utopia.
Army of GOD wrote:I'm trying to understand what "good at emotions" mean. That doesn't make any sense whatsoever.
It was written by a rational Leftist though. Truth is, you are irrational. wait, no, cuz you are rational right?
What a quandary!
And you clearly disproved the study with a rational response, like reading the article and what it meant by "good at emotions" instead of reacting in a kneejerk emotional response.
Army of GOD wrote:I'm trying to understand what "good at emotions" mean. That doesn't make any sense whatsoever.
It was written by a rational Leftist though. Truth is, you are irrational. wait, no, cuz you are rational right?
What a quandary!
And you clearly disproved the study with a rational response, like reading the article and what it meant by "good at emotions" instead of reacting in a kneejerk emotional response.
Iliad wrote:And you clearly disproved the study with a rational response, like reading the article and what it meant by "good at emotions" instead of reacting in a kneejerk emotional response.
“Conservatives tend to be happier than liberals in general,” said Dr. Martin, a psychologist at the University of Western Ontario. “A conservative outlook rationalizes social inequality, accepting the world as it is, and making it less of a threat to one’s well-being, whereas a liberal outlook leads to dissatisfaction with the world as it is, and a sense that things need to change before one can be really happy.”
PLAYER57832 wrote:I hope we all become liberal drones.
anyone who identifies fully as a "conservative" or "liberal" probably doesn't have a brain developed enough to matter anyway. i have more in common with some radical leftists than i do with some moderate conservatives, but i'd be considered conservative by most here in america (except this article is from the uk, and just about everyone i've met from the uk is a liberal, so the conservatives over there must be pretty ridiculous. lol)
Last edited by john9blue on Thu Jan 06, 2011 8:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
natty_dread wrote:Do ponies have sex?
Army of GOD wrote:the term heterosexual is offensive. I prefer to be called "normal"
Phatscotty wrote:I will buy that conservatives are good at controlling their emotions.
Like Glenn Beck as opposed Barack Obama? Not that the latter is much of a leftist and may hardly even qualify as liberal, but meh.
saxitoxin wrote:Your position is more complex than the federal tax code. As soon as I think I understand it, I find another index of cross-references, exceptions and amendments I have to apply.
Timminz wrote:Yo mama is so classless, she could be a Marxist utopia.
Phatscotty wrote:I will buy that conservatives are good at controlling their emotions.
Like Glenn Beck as opposed Barack Obama? Not that the latter is much of a leftist and may hardly even qualify as liberal, but meh.
Ah, but is Glenn Beck letting his emotions get to him or is he controlling his emotions? Is he purposefully crying on air to obtain more notoriety and viewers or is he just getting emotional?
How about this one: SultanOfsurreal vs. Doc Brown?
i'd point out the logical fallacies in the implicit conclusions of this article, but i'm a conservative, so apparently i'm not qualified to do so. MY BRAIN IT HURTS
natty_dread wrote:Do ponies have sex?
Army of GOD wrote:the term heterosexual is offensive. I prefer to be called "normal"
Phatscotty wrote:I will buy that conservatives are good at controlling their emotions.
Like Glenn Beck as opposed Barack Obama? Not that the latter is much of a leftist and may hardly even qualify as liberal, but meh.
Ah, but is Glenn Beck letting his emotions get to him or is he controlling his emotions? Is he purposefully crying on air to obtain more notoriety and viewers or is he just getting emotional?
It doesn't matter which it is. His amygdala is involved in either case, and far more strongly so than his anterior cingulated cortex.
saxitoxin wrote:Your position is more complex than the federal tax code. As soon as I think I understand it, I find another index of cross-references, exceptions and amendments I have to apply.
Timminz wrote:Yo mama is so classless, she could be a Marxist utopia.
john9blue wrote:the "psychiatric roleplay" approach to insults? how very prowler of you.
I beg your pardon?
tl;dr: wat?
saxitoxin wrote:Your position is more complex than the federal tax code. As soon as I think I understand it, I find another index of cross-references, exceptions and amendments I have to apply.
Timminz wrote:Yo mama is so classless, she could be a Marxist utopia.
Phatscotty wrote:I will buy that conservatives are good at controlling their emotions.
Like Glenn Beck as opposed Barack Obama? Not that the latter is much of a leftist and may hardly even qualify as liberal, but meh.
Ah, but is Glenn Beck letting his emotions get to him or is he controlling his emotions? Is he purposefully crying on air to obtain more notoriety and viewers or is he just getting emotional?
It doesn't matter which it is. His amygdala is involved in either case, and far more strongly so than his anterior cingulated cortex.
I'll defer because I have no biology skills. But if Glenn Beck is purposefully changing his emotions to obtain more viewers/attention, would this not be controlled by the rational parts of his brain?
Phatscotty wrote:I will buy that conservatives are good at controlling their emotions.
Like Glenn Beck as opposed Barack Obama? Not that the latter is much of a leftist and may hardly even qualify as liberal, but meh.
Ah, but is Glenn Beck letting his emotions get to him or is he controlling his emotions? Is he purposefully crying on air to obtain more notoriety and viewers or is he just getting emotional?
It doesn't matter which it is. His amygdala is involved in either case, and far more strongly so than his anterior cingulated cortex.
I'll defer because I have no biology skills. But if Glenn Beck is purposefully changing his emotions to obtain more viewers/attention, would this not be controlled by the rational parts of his brain?
In all likelihood yes, but there doesn't seem to be any conflicting information for him to sort out in this case, which is what leftists and liberals supposedly tend to be better at than conservatives according to the study.
saxitoxin wrote:Your position is more complex than the federal tax code. As soon as I think I understand it, I find another index of cross-references, exceptions and amendments I have to apply.
Timminz wrote:Yo mama is so classless, she could be a Marxist utopia.
MeDeFe wrote:In all likelihood yes, but there doesn't seem to be any conflicting information for him to sort out in this case, which is what leftists and liberals supposedly tend to be better at than conservatives according to the study.
Unless the conflict was "staying non-emotional and retaining a smaller viewership" vs. "becoming emotional and growing the viewership." The former is a little more nefarious than the latter.
Iliad wrote:And you clearly disproved the study with a rational response, like reading the article and what it meant by "good at emotions" instead of reacting in a kneejerk emotional response.
“Conservatives tend to be happier than liberals in general,” said Dr. Martin, a psychologist at the University of Western Ontario. “A conservative outlook rationalizes social inequality, accepting the world as it is, and making it less of a threat to one’s well-being, whereas a liberal outlook leads to dissatisfaction with the world as it is, and a sense that things need to change before one can be really happy.”
In some ways, I think that paragraph is pretty brilliant evidence for the idea that maybe something is different on a physiological level. Because although I comprehend that you feel like accepting the world as it is, should be viewed as a desirable outcome and embraced, comprehension would not in this case equal understanding.
MeDeFe wrote:In all likelihood yes, but there doesn't seem to be any conflicting information for him to sort out in this case, which is what leftists and liberals supposedly tend to be better at than conservatives according to the study.
Unless the conflict was "staying non-emotional and retaining a smaller viewership" vs. "becoming emotional and growing the viewership." The former is a little more nefarious than the latter.
I don't see much of a conflict in this, it looks like a fairly standard (IF A then B) AND (IF ~A then ~B).
I think "conflicting information" means that two or more sources contradict each other (at least partly), but provide solid reasoning for the information they provide and you're left to figure out why there is a contradiction and try to solve it.
saxitoxin wrote:Your position is more complex than the federal tax code. As soon as I think I understand it, I find another index of cross-references, exceptions and amendments I have to apply.
Timminz wrote:Yo mama is so classless, she could be a Marxist utopia.
I'm always dubious about these sorts of studies. Most often I think people project their prejudices on the conclusions that idealogues on both sides analyse the results differently to reinforce assumptions they have to begin with. I'm not necessarily questioning the results, but the methods used to attain those results, and the conclusions people draw from those results.
From my anecdotal experiences,I just fundamentally disagree with the premise that liberals are logical and rational, and that conservatives are good at regulating their emotions.
MeDeFe wrote:In all likelihood yes, but there doesn't seem to be any conflicting information for him to sort out in this case, which is what leftists and liberals supposedly tend to be better at than conservatives according to the study.
Unless the conflict was "staying non-emotional and retaining a smaller viewership" vs. "becoming emotional and growing the viewership." The former is a little more nefarious than the latter.
I don't see much of a conflict in this, it looks like a fairly standard (IF A then B) AND (IF ~A then ~B).
I think "conflicting information" means that two or more sources contradict each other (at least partly), but provide solid reasoning for the information they provide and you're left to figure out why there is a contradiction and try to solve it.
You don't think there's conflict between doing the "right" thing (the former) versus doing the "wrong" thing (the latter)? Or am I confusing parts of the brain?
Phatscotty wrote:I will buy that conservatives are good at controlling their emotions.
Like Glenn Beck as opposed Barack Obama? Not that the latter is much of a leftist and may hardly even qualify as liberal, but meh.
Ah, but is Glenn Beck letting his emotions get to him or is he controlling his emotions? Is he purposefully crying on air to obtain more notoriety and viewers or is he just getting emotional?
It doesn't matter which it is. His amygdala is involved in either case, and far more strongly so than his anterior cingulated cortex.
This is awesome. Liberals are better at understanding logic and using reasoning, ESPECIALLY when they have to take into account new information that challenges their previous assertions. We're able to learn and grow. Conservatives, on the other hand, are better at getting angry about everything and then invade Iraq.
I mean, it sounds like I'm trolling but this is what I get out of this. They have more anger and we have more logic.
