Do liberal brains function better then conservative brains?
Do liberal brains function better then conservative brains? That is the conclusion of psychologist David Amodio, a professor at New York University, who found that a specific region of the brain is more sensitive in people who consider themselves liberals then in self-declared conservatives.
“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. 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.”
That “cue,” as reported in the Chicago Tribune, is processed in the “anterior cingulated cortex.” Dr. Amodio used electroencephalographs and forced choice tests to show that liberals were 4.9 times more likely to show activity in the brain circuits that deal with conflicts and 2.2 times more likely to score in the top half for accuracy. He tested college students who reported their political affiliation as liberal or conservative and showed them a series of letters on a computer. They were instructed to signal every time they saw an M but not a W. There were four times as many M’s as W’s which appeared alternatively on a computer screen.
Liberals were found to be more flexible in the ability to accept changes to routines then conservatives. The results reveal that liberals could be expected to accept new ideas more readily than their counterparts. This will likely be met with staunch arguments from the right who have little use for changing their minds or accepting new ideas.
