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Brains of Liberals & Conservatives
Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 11:03 pm
by Alan Evil
Conservatives and liberals have different patterns of neuronal impulses when confronted with unexpected circumstances. Self-described conservatives pressed the wrong button in response to a new stimulus 47% of the time, whereas avowed liberals had a 37% error rate; liberals had double the activity of conservatives in the anterior cingulate cortex, a deep region of the brain that helps people recognize "no-go" situations, but the study's authors emphasized that the results do not mean that liberals are smarter or better than conservatives. [synopsis lifted from Harper's Magazine]
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/n ... ain10.html
Brains of liberals, conservatives may work differently, study finds
By Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times
CHICAGO -- The differences between liberals and conservatives may run deeper than how they feel about welfare reform or the progress of the Iraq war: Researchers reported Sunday that their brains may actually work differently.
In a study likely to raise the hackles of some conservatives, scientists at New York University and the University of California, Los Angeles, found that a specific region of the brain's cortex is more sensitive in people who consider themselves liberals than in self-declared conservatives.
The brain region in question helps people shift gears when their usual response would be inappropriate, supporting the notion that liberals are more flexible in their thinking.
Say you drive home from work the same way every day, but one day there's a detour and you need to override your autopilot," said NYU psychologist David Amodio. "Most people function just fine. But there's a little variability in how sensitive people are to the cue that they need to change their current course."
"We're more likely to find extreme conservatives in the U.S. than extreme liberals."
Analyzing the data, Sulloway said liberals were 4.9 times more likely than conservatives to show activity in the brain circuits that deal with conflicts and were 2.2 times more likely to score in the top half of the distribution for accuracy.
Based on the results, Sulloway said, liberals could be expected to more readily accept new social, scientific or religious ideas.
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Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 11:20 pm
by KD
what about the medula oblongata activity?
Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 12:28 am
by L K Day
"but the study's authors emphasized that the results do not mean that liberals are smarter or better than conservative."
I'll say it doesn't. I'd bet this month's paycheck that mechanical engineering graduates are both smarter and more conservative than psychology graduates.
Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 12:34 am
by Saxman
Yeah, but the psych major gets laid.
Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 8:41 am
by KD
Saxman wrote:Yeah, but the psych major gets laid.
because they gotta faster medula oblongata. Ill bet the corpus collosum is less distinct in conservatives giving them more direction and less back and forth thoughts though. and corpus collosum had a kind of bible sounding name too so its fun to talk about at megachurch.
Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 9:19 am
by krampus
L K Day wrote:I'll say it doesn't. I'd bet this month's paycheck that mechanical engineering graduates are both smarter and more conservative than psychology graduates.
On a related note, I was attending a physics colloquium at UK, some boring thing about string theory or something or other and I started to notice a steady flow of laughter, it started at the bottom left and slowly moved across the rows and up the isles until the picture finally came to me. Remember, these are established physicists, not engineers.
Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 9:51 am
by L K Day
That's a good one, but you know, it would happen to just about anybody if you handed them binoculars and said "check that out". It could even have been a set-up or a photoshop.
Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 10:23 am
by krampus
There was subtle purpose to my comedic corollary.
Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 12:24 pm
by KD
maybe theyre special secret kind of binoculars.
Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 2:53 pm
by charlie
L K Day wrote:"but the study's authors emphasized that the results do not mean that liberals are smarter or better than conservative."
I'll say it doesn't. I'd bet this month's paycheck that mechanical engineering graduates are both smarter and more conservative than psychology graduates.
Define "smarter." I was an English major, I work in a technology company, I am surrounded by and work with engineers. They are perhaps the least useful people on the planet when not inside their little corner of expertise.
I can write a document and solve an equation. Maybe I'm not as smart as some of these people but I'd bet my paycheck I'd fit in the useful to society column a hell of a lot more than most of them.