9/20/16

This is your brain

But this is your brain on politics...

The Brain Blog

Or

Brain Anatomy for the Innocent, the Eager and the Doomed…

CAVEAT: The human brain is the single most complicated structure on the planet. Just because a part of the brain seems bigger in liberals or more active in conservatives doesn't mean that "Liberal" or "Conservative" is directly encoded in the brain. It's usually more involved than that. Just keep that in mind as you read.

We know from lots of different research that liberals and conservatives respond differently to different things. It makes sense, then, to think that there might be differences in their brains, in the size of different parts or maybe which parts get turned on under different circumstances. And that's what the research actually shows. (You're remembering that part about most-complicated-structure-on-the-planet, right? Carry on.)

For example, when faced with disturbing images, conservatives respond more strongly (they sweat more) than liberals and pay more attention to the pictures of spiders or dead bodies or whatever. Moreover, they are more vigilant and cautious than liberals and can respond more aggressively when threatened. So is there a part of the brain that helps monitor fear and aggression? Why yes, there is!  It’s called the amydgala, and it’s part of a really cool network called the limbic system.  Here’s the amygdala in red:

The Amygdala

You can see there’s one on each side of the brain. That’s true for almost all brain structures, with the exception of the pineal gland, beloved of crystal gazers and pseudoscientists alike. Anyway, the amygdala is significantly bigger in conservative brains than liberal brains. It’s also much bigger in men than women and explains part of why male brains are bigger than female brains, even controlling for differences in body mass. And possibly why men are generally more aggressive than women.

But I digress.

So what does this mean in general? Can we use this as an explanation for why conservatives respond differently to threats? Why they respond so much more strongly to disgusting images? Is it a cause or an effect of that behavior?  Chicken or egg? Stay tuned.

We also know that liberals can process conflicting information and changes in patterns more efficiently than conservatives. For example, if you have to tap a keyboard when the letter M shows up on the screen but not when the letter W shows up, liberals do better. This requires the activation of a part of the brain that monitors conflict. It’s called the anterior cingulate cortex, and here’s what it looks like:

 

Anterior Cingulate Cortex

The ACC is bigger in liberal brains than conservative brains. And given conflicting information, liberals are generally better at figuring out what’s happening and responding more efficiently than conservatives. (There's another part of the brain that does similar things but is more active in conservatives than liberals.  Obvious this still needs to be worked out.)

But the ACC is also involved when we have to think hard about something. That's actually important for political thinking as well. If we don't allow people to think thoroughly about politics and force them to use easier, low-effort means of thinking, then they tend to arrive at conservative viewpoints rather than liberal ones.  Being a liberal can take work.

So on to the chicken and egg thing.  Those of us who are interested in why folks do the things they do often bring up the nature/nurture argument. Is this behavior or that trait inborn or is it learned? And the best answer is yes, it’s both.  That may be what’s working here, though I’m just guessing. Since we know that for many of us, political affiliation runs in families (like intelligence and musical talent and so on), then maybe people inherit a brain structure that’s primed to absorb the family politics. An inclination, as it were, to be a liberal or a conservative.

Having pulled this theory out of, ahem, I went in search of studies to see what people might have actually found.  And, happy day, the Pew Research Center published a study several years ago that compared political attitudes between identical twins (same brains) and fraternal twins (raised at the same time with some similarities but not the same brain). And they concluded that more than half (56%) of the differences in political orientation between identicals and fraternals could be accounted for by genetics. More than half! They also found that about half of the trait of authoritarianism (much stronger in conservatives than liberals) seems to be inherited as well as half the trait of egalitarianism (stronger in liberals than conservatives). You can find the whole report here.  It’s written for real people instead of scientists, so I can recommend it to you.

Is biology destiny?  No. Genetics may supply the paper and pen, but life itself does the writing.  People are highly, though not infinitely, malleable. However, when we encounter those of the opposite political persuasion, it would probably be helpful to remember that some of what they have to say may come from hard wiring in the brain and childhood experiences and not lend itself to rational debate. Sadly.

Finally, this is your brain on Election Day.

9/11/16

My Favorite Things

When I was a child, my favorite food was a kind of labor intensive cinnamon toast that my mom would make for me if I was sick or feeling bad about something that had happened in school.  It involved making a paste of butter, sugar and cinnamon and then spreading that on bread, which she toasted under the broiler.  It was crunchy and sweet and buttery and altogether wonderful, full of great flavors and mommy love.

I was thinking of that when I was reading about the glories of Bean’s Red Hot Dogs. Sgt. Tim Cotton of the Bangor Maine Police Department, who writes their appealing blog, included what he swears is a prize winning recipe for these Maine hot dogs in a kind of cheese and egg quiche, which, frankly, sounds a little gagging, along with the whole artery clogging thing. But I guess if you grew up with these bright red hot dogs, it makes a difference.

So Sgt. TC’s post got me thinking about favorite foods and favorite music and favorite movies and such, and thus gave birth to this blog. Which will end with some political psych stuff. Hang with me.

I like sweet and crunchy things, like Cadbury’s fruit and raisin bars and pecan pie and my BFF’s homemade pecan pralines. Especially the pralines. I like science fiction movies with good stories and compelling characters, like The Martian or The Day the Earth Stood Still (the Michael Rennie version, not that Keanu Reeves mess). I like rock ‘n’ roll music from the 50s, 60s and some 70s. And I like social justice and the politicians who promote it.

I never thought much about why I like these things until I read a research paper a while back on people’s taste in music and how it was often tied to what was popular when they were teenagers. There seems to be a critical period in which our taste in music is formed. So the theory goes that I like folk and rock ‘n’ roll and some country stuff even now because that’s the style of music I liked during that imprinting period of my teens in the 60s. If you listen to golden oldies stations today, they’re playing music that was popular in the 80s and 90s, aimed at people who were born in the 70s. That also means that in ten years, the classic pop stations will probably be playing rap and hip hop! 

People’s preferences for foods are really personal but can, in some ways, be tied to the types of foods they were exposed to as infants.  Again, some kind of critical period. I don’t want to get into the baby food wars here, but the data suggest that in general, the younger that kids are exposed to a wide variety of flavors and tastes, the more likely they’ll still be eating a wide variety of foods later on in childhood.

So how about me and those pralines? Seems that my obsession with sweet, crunchy things began with that cinnamon toast.  However, there’s more from the research on comfort foods.  For men, comfort foods tend to be meals (meat and potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and, apparently, hot dog quiche). For women, comfort foods tend to be snacks like ice cream and chocolate. And pralines.

The point I’m getting at is that, for a lot of our favorite things, there are critical periods in our lives when those preferences get set. For types of food, for music, for films, and even for political orientation.

Which brings me to this:

The best predictor of whether you’ll be a Republican or Democrat is your parents. That kind of partisanship can be found even in children and is passed on by the parents about 75% of the time. Considering the fascinating new research on differences in brain structure between liberals and conservatives, one has to wonder how much a role genetics plays. Are we born with a brain that's primed to be receptive to the family politics? Who knows!  However, if partisanship is going to change, adolescence is often when it happens.

My dad’s family were all Republicans. (Immigrants tend to join the party that is in power when they immigrated. In 1906, when his family arrived from Eastern Europe, Teddy Roosevelt was president. Roosevelt became an icon to immigrant Jews of that era.) However, my dad was born here and hit the age of political awareness at the time of the Great Depression. He became a Democrat. So did his younger sister though his older siblings remained with the GOP. The critical period for change had passed them by. (There are exceptions to this, but not for this particular blog. *Waves to my family.*)

And finally:

After reading about the glories of the Bean’s Maine Red Hot Dogs, I ordered some over the Internet. This is risky, as one person’s favorite food may well be another person’s Brussels sprouts. Nevertheless, we had them for dinner last night on grilled buns with baked beans and southern style    green beans. Both The Mac Geezer and I declare that they are delicious! Considering that our previous favorite hot dogs were Hebrew National (“We answer to a higher authority.”), that is high praise indeed. Yummy, bright red hot dogs. Having them for lunch today, too.

 Warning: The hot dogs are reasonably priced, though you need to order a minimum of five pounds. The shipping costs will require a mortgage on your house. Just saying'...

9/4/16

Personality differences between liberals and conservatives

A problem from social psychologist Richard Haidt: Two men react to their first view of Michelangelo's David. Which one voted for George Bush?

Same one who eats at Applebee's every Friday night instead of trying that new Chinese-Mexican fusion fast food place. And how did you know, anyway?  One reason is that we have some assumptions about differences in personality between conservatives and liberals.  And what is personality, anyway?

Remember, back in high school, when you might have tried to fix your brother up with a blind date, and you said, “She’s got a great personality!” when what you meant was that she was bubbly and extroverted and fun to be around? That’s not what I mean here. And BTW, how’d that work out for you?

 

Anyway, personality is a unique pattern of thoughts and feelings and behaviors that generally persists through long periods of time.  It’s what makes us, us. There have been a ton of theories on what personality is and how to describe it and where it comes from, but the general consensus now is that you can describe a person’s personality using five different qualities.  Here's some more detail:

I score high on Agreeableness and lower on Conscientiousness and Extraversion. That means I’m kinda introverted and nerdish except when I’m with really good friends. I’m generally really pleasant to be around but have to work very hard at being organized and getting things done. That’s my personality. If you want to find out about yours, you can take the personality test here:  http://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/  Feel free to skip the optional questions at the bottom, but be sure to indicate whether you told the truth or not!

So what does that have to do with politics?  Reliably, time after time and in the US, Canada and Great Britain, liberals and conservatives show different traits. Liberals are much more likely to be open to new experiences than conservatives. Conservatives are much more likely to be conscientious and reliable.

So when a free-wheeling liberal looks at a conservative, she might see him as a stick in the mud and he might see her as flipping on important issues.. A careful and organized conservative might look at a more impulsive liberal and see her as careless and disorganized while she might see him as rigid. It just depends on your point of view.

I think a more balanced view would see the liberal as being open to new viewpoints while the conservative sees himself as steadfast. The conservative would see himself as more responsible while the liberal would see herself as focusing on the big picture rather than details.

Based on some analyses I’ve seen, our current president scores very high on conscientiousness (up till 2:00 am every morning, getting prepped for the next day, that kind of thing) and very, very low on neuroticism.  I remember vividly his funny speech at the White House Press Corps Dinner on April 30, 2011. He had just come from planning the assassination of Osama ben Laden and left the dinner to go back and finish the job, which he announced the evening of May 1.  But if you watch his speech at the dinner, you can’t tell at all that he might be under any stress. Cool as a cucumber. I would NEVER play poker with this man.