I've mentioned before that I have an overactive amygdala. Through a series of genetically determined events that I've explained before
here, I get an intense second-hand fear response that renders me unable to watch scary movies. Just can't take it when the actress hears a noise and heads right down to the cellar to investigate when I know full well she should run even as I also know it's only a movie.
Now anxiety is a good thing when it sets off an appropriate 'fight or flight' response that allows us to recognize danger and either run or creep down those stairs provided we're fully certified in the martial arts (of course, karate is no use at all against the supernatural...). And it's a bad thing when it renders us unable to leave the house or apply for a job (met a patient like that just yesterday). But who'd have thought that an overactive--or indifferent--amygdala might affect our political beliefs? Well, color me conservative as I read the following from
Science Magazine.(1)
Political scientists teamed up with psychologists in Texas and Nebraska to find out if our political beliefs might have a biological basis. In their own words:
In a group of 46 adult participants with strong political beliefs, individuals with measurably lower physical sensitivities to sudden noises and threatening visual images were more likely to support foreign aid, liberal immigration policies, pacifism, and gun control, whereas individuals displaying measurably higher physiological reactions to those same stimuli were more likely to favor defense spending, capital punishment, patriotism, and the Iraq War. During session one, the scientists quizzed the group--preselected for the strength of their political convictions no matter what the content of their attitudes-- on their political beliefs, demographics, and personality traits. When the subjects next came down to the lab, they were hooked up to physiological equipment that measured change in skin conductance as well as the strength of their blink or startle response. They were then shown three threatening images (a very large spider on the face
of a frightened person, a dazed individual with a bloody face,
and an open wound with maggots in it) or three sweet little pictures (a bunny, a bowl
of fruit, and a happy child) interspersed amongst non-charged visuals.
Arousal causes increased moisture on the skin which increases conductance and fear causes a hard flinch or blink response of the muscles around the eye. Well I don't think I'd have a problem with a maggot show, but I know my heart rate would rise and I'd shut my eyes in moment to a large spider crawling on someone's face. The investigators found that an exaggerated response to the threatening pictures did correlate with a more conservative or socially protective attitude.
While the researchers were reluctant to conclude just what cause and effect processes were at work, they conjectured that "political attitudes and varying physiological
responses to threat may both derive from neural activity patterns,
perhaps those surrounding the amygdala. Amygdala activity is crucial in shaping
responses to socially threatening images and may be
connected to political predispositions."
Please note that in no way do I imply that all social conservatives have an exaggerated fear response. Nor do I think that close vigilance on the part of our society with respect to external danger is a bad thing.
_____
Oxley, DR, et al.
Political Attitudes Vary with Physiological Traits. Science 19 September 2008: Vol. 321. no. 5896, pp. 1667 - 1670.
ca-pub-1793295148737117
Now anxiety is a good thing when it sets off an appropriate 'fight or flight' response that allows us to recognize danger and either run or creep down those stairs provided we're fully certified in the martial arts (of course, karate is no use at all against the supernatural...). And it's a bad thing when it renders us unable to leave the house or apply for a job (met a patient like that just yesterday). But who'd have thought that an overactive--or indifferent--amygdala might affect our political beliefs? Well, color me conservative as I read the following from Science Magazine.(1)
Political scientists teamed up with psychologists in Texas and Nebraska to find out if our political beliefs might have a biological basis. In their own words:
In a group of 46 adult participants with strong political beliefs, individuals with measurably lower physical sensitivities to sudden noises and threatening visual images were more likely to support foreign aid, liberal immigration policies, pacifism, and gun control, whereas individuals displaying measurably higher physiological reactions to those same stimuli were more likely to favor defense spending, capital punishment, patriotism, and the Iraq War.
During session one, the scientists quizzed the group--preselected for the strength of their political convictions no matter what the content of their attitudes-- on their political beliefs, demographics, and personality traits. When the subjects next came down to the lab, they were hooked up to physiological equipment that measured change in skin conductance as well as the strength of their blink or startle response. They were then shown three threatening images (a very large spider on the face of a frightened person, a dazed individual with a bloody face, and an open wound with maggots in it) or three sweet little pictures (a bunny, a bowl of fruit, and a happy child) interspersed amongst non-charged visuals.
Arousal causes increased moisture on the skin which increases conductance and fear causes a hard flinch or blink response of the muscles around the eye. Well I don't think I'd have a problem with a maggot show, but I know my heart rate would rise and I'd shut my eyes in moment to a large spider crawling on someone's face. The investigators found that an exaggerated response to the threatening pictures did correlate with a more conservative or socially protective attitude.
While the researchers were reluctant to conclude just what cause and effect processes were at work, they conjectured that "political attitudes and varying physiological responses to threat may both derive from neural activity patterns, perhaps those surrounding the amygdala. Amygdala activity is crucial in shaping responses to socially threatening images and may be connected to political predispositions."
Please note that in no way do I imply that all social conservatives have an exaggerated fear response. Nor do I think that close vigilance on the part of our society with respect to external danger is a bad thing.
_____
Oxley, DR, et al. Political Attitudes Vary with Physiological Traits. Science 19 September 2008: Vol. 321. no. 5896, pp. 1667 - 1670.