07-18-2006, 12:57 AM
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--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo--> Political preference can alter the brain: Research
[ 16 Jul, 2006 1941hrs ISTANI ]
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WASHINGTON: A UCLA imaging study has found allegiance to a political party can affect the brain activity of partisans viewing the candidates. Published in journal Neuropsychologia, the study finds that a partisan's brain responds to the opposition candidate's face by activating cognitive networks designed to regulate emotion.
Using powerful fMRI equipment at the Semel Institute's Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, the team scanned the brains of 10 registered Democrats and 10 registered Republicans as the subjects viewed the faces of 2004 presidential contenders George Bush, John Kerry and Ralph Nader.
The study was conducted in the heat of the campaign that year. Viewing an opposition candidate produced signal changes in cognitive control circuitry in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulated cortex, as well as in emotional regions in the insula and anterior temporal poles.
"We still have much to learn about the neural basis of political decision making; however, these findings show party allegiance has a clear impact on brain activity," said lead author Marco Iacoboni, associate professor in residence at the Semel Institute, the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the UCLA Brain Research Institute.
"Most importantly, our findings show how political attitudes can guide the activation of emotional systems in the brain and influence how people regulate those emotional responses," Iacoboni said.
The effect was strongest for ratings of George Bush, which tended to differ more between Democrats and Republicans than did ratings of John Kerry.
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo--> Political preference can alter the brain: Research[ 16 Jul, 2006 1941hrs ISTANI ]
RSS Feeds| SMS NEWS to 8888 for latest updates
WASHINGTON: A UCLA imaging study has found allegiance to a political party can affect the brain activity of partisans viewing the candidates. Published in journal Neuropsychologia, the study finds that a partisan's brain responds to the opposition candidate's face by activating cognitive networks designed to regulate emotion.
Using powerful fMRI equipment at the Semel Institute's Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, the team scanned the brains of 10 registered Democrats and 10 registered Republicans as the subjects viewed the faces of 2004 presidential contenders George Bush, John Kerry and Ralph Nader.
The study was conducted in the heat of the campaign that year. Viewing an opposition candidate produced signal changes in cognitive control circuitry in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulated cortex, as well as in emotional regions in the insula and anterior temporal poles.
"We still have much to learn about the neural basis of political decision making; however, these findings show party allegiance has a clear impact on brain activity," said lead author Marco Iacoboni, associate professor in residence at the Semel Institute, the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the UCLA Brain Research Institute.
"Most importantly, our findings show how political attitudes can guide the activation of emotional systems in the brain and influence how people regulate those emotional responses," Iacoboni said.
The effect was strongest for ratings of George Bush, which tended to differ more between Democrats and Republicans than did ratings of John Kerry.