Once again something new from the friends of the electric shock Laboratory: Brain Research
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You Are the liberal or conservative? New York scientists can verify this by using brain wave measurements.
By Mark C. Schulte of Drach
To detect political extremists, the method is not enough of course. But how someone will vote at the next election could be, with the help of brain wave measurements might predict. You just need to know which part of the brain test you have to.
This is indicated by a study by scientists at New York University. The Researchers have managed to check with the help of EEG measurements, the political attitude of its participants.
Accordingly shows the brain activity in a specific region of the brain, if someone is set more liberal or conservative. It is located in the anterior cingulate cortex, which will play an important role as a mental brake.
David Amodio and his colleagues can assess their 43 subjects own political attitude on a scale from -5 to +5. The lowest value was for this very liberal, the highest for very conservative.
was then the brain activity of subjects by means of an electroencephalogram (EEG) monitors, as they responded to signals of a button.
Appeared on a screen on an M, they should press a button, there appeared a W, the other - within half a second. The scientists, however, had seen to it that in 80 percent of the cases always appeared the same letter. Study participants got used to it, therefore, always to press the same button.
conservatives follow the habit
flashed but the other character but once, then had to switch subjects. And the conservative set participants was worse than the liberal. They followed the common custom and expressed now on the wrong button.
And their behavior was also reflected in brain activity. But for those who had considered more liberal, showed that neurons in the watch area twice as much activity as in the conservative participants. This, we suspect, reflect the greater willingness or ability of these people again to engage in change. (Nature Neuroscience, doi: 10.1038/nn1979).
Amadio and his team speculate that there are investments, which are reflected in the political attitude - and that this may be a bit far are genetic. This may explain in part why many people their entire lives in a political belief to hold.
that there are differences in the thinking of liberal and conservative people, is already known for some time. Accordingly, liberals take greater account of the complexity and ambiguity of information, while conservatives are characterized by a structured and consistent style of thinking, Amodio and his colleagues report.
Amodio How the New Scientist said his study does not demonstrate that liberals somehow "better" than conservatives had. Because in other situations it may be advantageous to be distracted by new stimuli not as fast.
The results should, however, should not be exaggerated. Said Matt Newman said of the Arizona State University in Phoenix to the New Scientist, it would be going too far when researchers would say, different political views could be simply attributed to biological differences.
(sueddeutsche.de)
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