This election season has been brutal. My brain is overwhelmed and now fried in response to the intensity of the political advertisements on TV. The mute button on my remote is showing signs of wear and tear! As it turns out, our politics may be shaped by our brains. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), neuroscientists have found specific differences between conservative and liberal brains. This compilation of studies reveals the inside workings of our brains and politics.
The Voting Brain
In the past decade, neuroscience has enabled us to identify the parts of the brain that get activated when we watch political ads. What these results show is that most are driven by fear and emotion rather than rational argument. Negative political advertising works and we now have the fMRI scans to prove it. By playing on our fear and anger, those who devise election slogans are producing messaging that triggers the parts of the brain associated with revenge and pent-up rage including the anterior cingulate cortex.
Older people are particularly interesting here. As we age, we become more prone to activating the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain associated with caution. People of all ages have a strong tendency to activate the amygdala — a part of the brain associated with fear.
(https://theconversation.com/neuroscience-can-explain-why-voting-is-so-often-driven-by-emotion-231469)
Political Manipulation of the Habenula
The Habenula is a small pea-sized brain region that is involved in behavioral responses to stress, pain, anxiety, sleep, and reward and its dysfunction is associated with depression and schizophrenia. Attack ads and negative campaigning aim at the reaction of the habenula. Negative ads rarely convince people to switch candidates, but they conceivably activate the habenulas of the opponent’s supporters by instilling doubt about their candidates’ chances. This saps voter motivation and can result in inaction for that candidate.
By proactively managing our brain’s motivational systems, we become empowered voters rather than falling victim to manipulation, apathy, and disillusionment.
Neuropolitics
Neuropolitics uses brain science to understand politics. It applies the insights of neurology to explain why we take part in protests, vote for parties, and even lie about our true feelings in opinion polls, potentially skewing the results to give the public a false impression of who is going to win. Advance in social neuroscience means that we can identify the parts of the brain that get activated when we watch political advertisements. We can do this because of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI scans).
When we like a particular candidate — we activate a part of the brain called the ventral striatum. It is part of the basal ganglia, a part of the brain that is associated with rewards. So, if your brain is activated when you see candidate A, it is a cue that you will vote for him or her. When we like something, the area is bombarded with the neurotransmitter dopamine in the ventral striatum.
If you are center-left
No single area of the brain is responsible for how we think, but some areas are associated with political thinking.
A study – co-written by Colin Firth – found that “greater liberalism (left-wing thinking) was associated with increased gray matter volume in the anterior cingulate cortex”. This part of the brain is associated with empathy. So, maybe this research shows that those on the left are more empathetic.
If you are center-right
What about conservatives? Individuals of this persuasion tend to be skeptical of change and cautious when they make choices. The brain region associated with these traits is the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, on the top side of the brain.
This part of the brain was activated when subjects were exposed to video clips with political messages or images of people living alternative lifestyles – something that perhaps suggests a negative response to these lifestyles.
If you’re receptive to authoritarianism
So far, we have looked at moderate leftists and conservatives, but some people take a more extreme position. Some describe themselves as religious fundamentalists and are willing to stop abortion, for example. Others identify with the far right of the political spectrum.
A small study of these people found their brains — when under the fMRI scanner — show signs of damage to the ventro-medial-prefrontal cortex. This is an area associated with social intelligence and tolerance. It should be added that those with extreme views on both the far right and the far-left show activation of the amygdala when they are shown clips of political opponents. The amygdala is the part of the brain that kicks in when we are in mortal danger.
Neuropolitics can be scary, but researchers already know that they can predict ideology with up to 85% accuracy. You may choose to ignore this science and the results it is discovering, but it is already being used in the real world of political advertising. It is no longer fiction, and when it is abused, it can be dangerous.
(https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2024/0416/1443773-neuropolitics-neuroscience-politics-brain-influence/)
Last Thought
“When people feel a strong connection to a political party, leader, ideology, or belief, they are more likely to let that allegiance do their thinking for them and distort or ignore the evidence that challenges those loyalties.”
Social psychologists Elliot Aronson and Carol Travis
References :
Bobinet, K. (June 27, 2024). How neuroscience will decide the presidential election. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbookauthors/2024/06/27/how-neuroscience-will-decide-the-presidential-election/
Qvortrup, M. (April 16, 2024). 4 things your brain can tell you about your politics. Retrieved from https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2024/0416/1443773-neuropolitics-neuroscience-politics-brain-influence/
Qvortrup, M. (June 7, 2024). Neuroscience can explain why voting is so often driven by emotion. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/neuroscience-can-explain-why-voting-is-so-often-driven-by-emotion-231469
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