Liberals and conservatives literally think differently, really!

[Marnie]

Exploring the neurobiology of politics, scientists have found that liberals tolerate ambiguity and conflict better than conservatives because of how their brains work.

In a simple experiment reported todayin the journal Nature Neuroscience, scientists at New York University and UCLA show that political orientation is related to differences in how the brain processes information.

Previous psychological studies have found that conservatives tend to be more structured and persistent in their judgments whereas liberals are more open to new experiences. The latest study found those traits are not confined to political situations but also influence everyday decisions.

The results show "there are two cognitive styles -- a liberal style and a conservative style," said UCLA neurologist Dr. Marco Iacoboni, who was not connected to the latest research.

Participants were college students whose politics ranged from "very liberal" to "very conservative." They were instructed to tap a keyboard when an M appeared on a computer monitor and to refrain from tapping when they saw a W.

M appeared four times more frequently than W, conditioning participants to press a key in knee-jerk fashion whenever they saw a letter.

Each participant was wired to an electroencephalograph that recorded activity in the anterior cingulate cortex, the part of the brain that detects conflicts between a habitual tendency (pressing a key) and a more appropriate response (not pressing the key). Liberals had more brain activity and made fewer mistakes than conservatives when they saw a W, researchers said. Liberals and conservatives were equally accurate in recognizing M.

Researchers got the same results when they repeated the experiment in reverse, asking another set of participants to tap when a W appeared.

Frank J. Sulloway, a researcher at UC Berkeley's Institute of Personality and Social Research who was not connected to the study, said the results "provided an elegant demonstration that individual differences on a conservative-liberal dimension are strongly related to brain activity."

Analyzing the data, Sulloway said liberals were 4.9 times as likely as conservatives to show activity in the brain circuits that deal with conflicts, and 2.2 times as likely to score in the top half of the distribution for accuracy.

Sulloway said the results could explain why President Bush demonstrated a single-minded commitment to the Iraq war and why some people perceived Sen. John F. Kerry, the liberal Massachusetts Democrat who opposed Bush in the 2004 presidential race, as a "flip-flopper" for changing his mind about the conflict.

Based on the results, he said, liberals could be expected to more readily accept new social, scientific or religious ideas.

"There is ample data from the history of science showing that social and political liberals indeed do tend to support major revolutions in science," said Sulloway, who has written about the history of science and has studied behavioral differences between conservatives and liberals.

Lead author David Amodio, an assistant professor of psychology at New York University, cautioned that the study looked at a narrow range of human behavior and that it would be a mistake to conclude that one political orientation was better. The tendency of conservatives to block distracting information could be a good thing depending on the situation, he said.

Political orientation, he noted, occurs along a spectrum, and positions on specific issues, such as taxes, are influenced by many factors, including education and wealth. Some liberals oppose higher taxes and some conservatives favor abortion rights.

Still, he acknowledged that a meeting of the minds between conservatives and liberals looked difficult given the study results.

"Does this mean liberals and conservatives are never going to agree?" Amodio asked. "Maybe it suggests one reason why they tend not to get along."

LATIMES

[kat8585]

I've wondered about that at times, if the liberal brain was somehow different, that it could actually think the way it does.

If that is the case, I'm glad I got a conservative brain! Having a liberal one sounds scary.

[blessed1195]

Interesting Study but the liberals singlemindedness of hatred disproves this study.Whether the hate is directed toward America,Christian values or our President, it doesn't matter, since we witness it almost everyday. Don't actions speak louder than words?

I would have liked them to have looked at the religious beliefs of liberals vs. conservatives. I believe they would have found that biblically literate Christians are to the far right, not waivering from their line in the sand drawn by Almighty GOD while liberals blow in the wind and follow their newest religion ,the religion of global warming with Al GORE, their prophet and their god,the prince of the ways of the world, the father of lies.

Liberals seem to applaud the deception spread throughout America by the mainstream media, who spreads the propaganda of George Soros funded organizations, Hollywood socialists and their political party- the party to the left.

As I signed on to this site today, I heard how the mainstream media and the party to the left have called General Petreaus (our 4 star General leading the troop surge) a liar and their liberal talking point web site www.mediamatters.org naming him General Betrayus. If this isn't from Satan, I don't know what is.

Have you read Rev 2:9+ and Rev 3:9+??? These verses are 2 different churches Jesus had no issues with and what is important is what they taught. Both churches named Philadelphia and Smyrna ( their names are not as important as what they taught) teach about the Synagogue of Satan which I believe is very active in the USA today among liberals.

I could never understand why anyone who calls themselves a Christian could support or vote for any liberal or anyone to the left.

IN GOD WE TRUST and in Jesus' name I pray,

Blessed1195

[forrestkc]

I think how it describes liberals probably fits me fairly well. In fact, I would much rather be open to new ideas, tolerant of different cultures and lifestyles, accepting of scientific advancements, and so on than have the all the hang-ups, hard-headedness, and close-mindedness of the conservative mind.

[CaritateDei]

I've wondered about that at times, if the liberal brain was somehow different, that it could actually think the way it does.

If that is the case, I'm glad I got a conservative brain! Having a liberal one sounds scary.

HA HA HA HA HA

[Marnie]

I think how it describes liberals probably fits me fairly well. In fact, I would much rather be open to new ideas, tolerant of different cultures and lifestyles, accepting of scientific advancements, and so on than have the all the hang-ups, hard-headedness, and close-mindedness of the conservative mind.

Geeze, forrest, why don't say what you mean?

[forrestkc]

I think how it describes liberals probably fits me fairly well. In fact, I would much rather be open to new ideas, tolerant of different cultures and lifestyles, accepting of scientific advancements, and so on than have the all the hang-ups, hard-headedness, and close-mindedness of the conservative mind.

Geeze, forrest, why don't say what you mean?

Well conservatives certainly have a useful purpose, they provide just enough of a drag on progress to keep societies from trying to move forward to quickly.

[nebula]

Hmmm . . . I guess that's why liberals are dominating the academic field.

Off hand, I'd say my brain is more liberal-wired. I chose to be conservative, though, because of my religious convictions that there is "one Way" to Heaven, that there is "good and evil" and that sin is sin no matter what sob-story goes behind it.

[Leonard]

Interesting Study but the liberals singlemindedness of hatred disproves this study.Whether the hate is directed toward America,Christian values or our President, it doesn't matter, since we witness it almost everyday. Don't actions speak louder than words?

I would have liked them to have looked at the religious beliefs of liberals vs. conservatives. I believe they would have found that biblically literate Christians are to the far right, not waivering from their line in the sand drawn by Almighty GOD while liberals blow in the wind and follow their newest religion ,the religion of global warming with Al GORE, their prophet and their god,the prince of the ways of the world, the father of lies.

Liberals seem to applaud the deception spread throughout America by the mainstream media, who spreads the propaganda of George Soros funded organizations, Hollywood socialists and their political party- the party to the left.

As I signed on to this site today, I heard how the mainstream media and the party to the left have called General Petreaus (our 4 star General leading the troop surge) a liar and their liberal talking point web site www.mediamatters.org naming him General Betrayus. If this isn't from Satan, I don't know what is.

Have you read Rev 2:9+ and Rev 3:9+??? These verses are 2 different churches Jesus had no issues with and what is important is what they taught. Both churches named Philadelphia and Smyrna ( their names are not as important as what they taught) teach about the Synagogue of Satan which I believe is very active in the USA today among liberals.

I could never understand why anyone who calls themselves a Christian could support or vote for any liberal or anyone to the left.

IN GOD WE TRUST and in Jesus' name I pray,

Blessed1195

Get off the fence and tell us how you REALLY FEEL!!!

[kat8585]

Being conservative came natural to me. It's common sense and biblical.