Starve.Org White Noise Usenet Archive: "Re: Brain Function of Liberals and Conservatives Differs"

....Psychologist David Amodio, a professor at New York University,
found that the brain's anterior cingulate cortex is more sensitive in
people who consider themselves liberal.

The region helps people shift gears when responses would be
inappropriate, backing the notion that liberals are more flexible in
their thinking.

In the study, 43 students registered their political attitudes from
extremely liberal to extremely conservative. Then they completed a
computer test called "Go/No-Go" while their brain activity was
tracked.

Subjects were told to quickly press "Go" each time the letter M
flashed, but not when a W was displayed.

Amodio said the "Go" stimulus came up 400 out of 500 times, so
"they're sitting there getting in the habit of pressing this button.
But 20 percent of the time, the 'No Go' stimulus comes up; it's
unexpected."

Subjects who rated themselves more liberal had higher scores for
accuracy, Amodio said. But, more important, they also showed stronger
electrical activity when the "No Go" cues were presented, indicating
that more neurons were firing.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0910brain0910....

We're more accurate, more alert, more flexible, more open to new
information, more nimble when confronted with change and new
challenges.

No wonder turtle is so frantic to dismiss this study.

On Sep 10, 4:29 pm, maggiesanger <margaretsan...@yahoo.com> wrote:

- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

> .....Dozens of previous studies have established a strong link between
> political persuasion and certain personality traits.

> Conservatives tend to crave order and structure in their lives, and
> are more consistent in the way they make decisions. Liberals, by
> contrast, show a higher tolerance for ambiguity and complexity, and
> adapt more easily to unexpected circumstances.

> The affinity between political views and "cognitive style" has also
> been shown to be heritable, handed down from parents to children, said
> the study, published in the British journal Nature Neuroscience.

> Intrigued by these correlations, New York University political
> scientist David Amodio and colleagues decided to find out if the
> brains of liberals and conservatives reacted differently to the same
> stimuli.

> A group of 43 right-handed subjects were asked to perform a series of
> computer tests designed to evaluate their unrehearsed response to cues
> urging them to break a well-established routine.

> "People often drive home from work on the same route, day after day,
> such that it becomes habitual and doesn't involve much thinking,"
> Amodio explained by way of comparison in an e-mail.

> "But occasionally there is road work, or perhaps an animal crosses the
> road, and you need to break out of your habitual response in order to
> deal with this new information."

> Using electroencephalographs, which measure neuronal impulses, the
> researchers examined activity in a part of the brain -- the anterior
> cingulate cortex -- that is strongly linked with the self-regulatory
> process of conflict monitoring.

> The match-up was unmistakable: respondents who had described
> themselves as liberals showed "significantly greater conflict-related
> neural activity" when the hypothetical situation called for an
> unscheduled break in routine.

> Conservatives, however, were less flexible, refusing to deviate from
> old habits "despite signals that this ... should be changed.".....

> http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070909/hl_afp/scienceneuroscience;_ylt=...

> Could this explain the Iraq debacle supporters' idiotic "Stay the
> Course!" policy?