Brain treats questions about beliefs like physical threats. Can we disarm it?

[C C]

https://massivesci.com/articles/brain-po...-politics/

EXCERPT: . . . The study uncovered a correlation: when a belief is directly challenged by new information, parts of the brain that typically show activity for physical threats expressed greater activity in people who tended to be more resistive to changing their minds.

“The brain can be thought of as a very sophisticated self-defense machine," [Jonas] Kaplan told me. "If there is a belief that the brain considers part of who we are, it turns on its self-defense mode to protect that belief.”

Kaplan argues that this demonstrates that the brain reacts to belief challenges in the same way that it reacts to perceived physical threats. This would help explain why minds are so resistant to change the beliefs that form one’s perception of reality....

MORE: https://massivesci.com/articles/brain-po...-politics/

[Syne]

"In a study that he and his research team published in Scientific Reports last year, they studied the scans of people undergoing simultaneous questioning, and demonstrated the physical effects that take place within the brain during periods when political beliefs were questioned.

The study uncovered a correlation: when a belief is directly challenged by new information, parts of the brain that typically show activity for physical threats expressed greater activity in people who tended to be more resistive to changing their minds."

From the actual study:
"Given that all of our participants were strong liberals, it is not clear how well these results would generalize to conservatives, or to people with less polarized beliefs." - https://www.nature.com/articles/srep39589

[Magical Realist]

“I have a hobby where I chat for five minutes,” Magnabosco says. His conversations are spontaneous: people he meets while hiking, or at public universities in and around San Antonio, TX. “We select a belief that you form, that you’re sure is true, and I ask questions to see how you can be so sure.”

Sounds like a modern version of the Socratic gadfly. He should be careful or else develop a taste for hemlock.

---

"In a study that he and his research team published in Scientific Reports last year, they studied the scans of people undergoing simultaneous questioning, and demonstrated the physical effects that take place within the brain during periods when political beliefs were questioned.

The study uncovered a correlation: when a belief is directly challenged by new information, parts of the brain that typically show activity for physical threats expressed greater activity in people who tended to be more resistive to changing their minds."

From the actual study:
"Given that all of our participants were strong liberals, it is not clear how well these results would generalize to conservatives, or to people with less polarized beliefs." - https://www.nature.com/articles/srep39589

right..because why on earth would a human brain with liberal beliefs operate the same as a human brain with conservative beliefs?

[Syne]

"In a study that he and his research team published in Scientific Reports last year, they studied the scans of people undergoing simultaneous questioning, and demonstrated the physical effects that take place within the brain during periods when political beliefs were questioned.

The study uncovered a correlation: when a belief is directly challenged by new information, parts of the brain that typically show activity for physical threats expressed greater activity in people who tended to be more resistive to changing their minds."

From the actual study:
"Given that all of our participants were strong liberals, it is not clear how well these results would generalize to conservatives, or to people with less polarized beliefs." - https://www.nature.com/articles/srep39589

right..because why on earth would a human brain with liberal beliefs operate the same as a human brain with conservative beliefs?

Because there have been many studies demonstrating the difference in amygdala size between "liberals" and conservatives, and this study used amygdala response.

[Magical Realist]

"In a study that he and his research team published in Scientific Reports last year, they studied the scans of people undergoing simultaneous questioning, and demonstrated the physical effects that take place within the brain during periods when political beliefs were questioned.

The study uncovered a correlation: when a belief is directly challenged by new information, parts of the brain that typically show activity for physical threats expressed greater activity in people who tended to be more resistive to changing their minds."

From the actual study:
"Given that all of our participants were strong liberals, it is not clear how well these results would generalize to conservatives, or to people with less polarized beliefs." - https://www.nature.com/articles/srep39589

right..because why on earth would a human brain with liberal beliefs operate the same as a human brain with conservative beliefs?

Because there have been many studies demonstrating the difference in amygdala size between "liberals" and conservatives, and this study used amygdala response.

So why would amygdala size affect the experiment? Does a big hand operate any differently from a small hand?

[Syne]

Because there have been many studies demonstrating the difference in amygdala size between "liberals" and conservatives, and this study used amygdala response.

So why would amygdala size affect the experiment? Does a big hand operate any differently from a small hand?

"In a study released on November 20, 2013 researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine have found that measuring the size and connectivity of the amygdala—a part of the brain associated with processing emotion—can predict the degree of anxiety a young child is experiencing in daily life.

Prolonged stress and anxiety during childhood increase the risk of someone developing anxiety disorders and depression later in life. In the breakthrough study, the researchers at Stanford found that the larger the amygdala—and the stronger its connections with other regions of the brain responsible for perception and the regulation of emotion—the greater the amount of anxiety a child was experiencing." - https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the...ts-anxiety

But seemingly paradoxically, conservatives rate themselves as happier than "liberals" by a large margin.

"In 2006 a Pew study of public opinion in the US found that 47% of Republicans reported themselves to be "very happy" compared to just 28% of liberal democrats. Republicans have reported themselves to be happier than Democrats every single year since the general social survey began in 1972 and the relationship does not seem to be mediated by whether Democrats or Republicans are in power" - http://bigthink.com/neurobonkers/the-par...are-states

The answer to this paradox is that a more developed amygdala, with stronger mediating connections to other brain regions, may more accurately evaluate dangers. Where a "liberal" might see micro-aggressions or disagreement as an existential attack on who they are, while underestimating physical threats, a conservative might only be provoked by physical threats. Like the immune system, accurate threat response may be strengthened by repeated exposure to real threats. Poorly developed amygdala may overreact to weak stimuli and even fail to react to significant stimuli.

[Magical Realist]

The answer to this paradox is that a more developed amygdala, with stronger mediating connections to other brain regions, may more accurately evaluate dangers. Where a "liberal" might see micro-aggressions or disagreement as an existential attack on who they are, while underestimating physical threats, a conservative might only be provoked by physical threats.

I put little stock in self-reported "happiness" surveys. But the study is interesting in that a larger amygdala indicates more anxiety and fear. This would predict the pattern of conservatives being more driven by fear and reactive to threats than liberals are.

"Meanwhile, the neuro-scientific fact of two very different political creatures helps clarify much of the political antics of modern democracies.

Most societies are divided into a party that wants change (the more liberal party) and one that is afraid of change (the conservatives). The liberal party is generally more intellectual and the conservative party is more anti-intellectual.

The conservative party is big on national defense and magnifies our perception of threat, whether of foreign aggressors, immigrants, terrorists, or invading ideologies like Communism. To a conservative, the world really is a frightening place."----https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the...tudy-finds

[Syne]

Yeah, those who report less happiness are likely to be incredulous of anyone reporting more. It's also illustrative of the topic that one would dismiss self-reported happiness while wholly buying other self-reported, and even supernatural, experiences. May shows the perceived threat to beliefs.

And while conservatives do take things like national security and sovereignty more seriously, "liberals", especially the last few years, take the slightest disagreement as an existential crisis. That would seem to jibe with the corrected studies that actually found that "liberals" political beliefs were positively correlated to psychoticism. https://nypost.com/2016/06/09/science-sa...ic-traits/

And while conservatives see potential external threats, "liberals" only seem to see internal ones.

[Magical Realist]

"The idea that the brains of Democrats and Republicans may be hard-wired to their beliefs is not new. Previous research has shown that during MRI scans, areas linked to broad social connectedness, which involves friends and the world at large, light up in Democrats’ brains. Republicans, on the other hand, show more neural activity in parts of the brain associated with tight social connectedness, which focuses on family and country.

Other scans have shown that brain regions associated with risk and uncertainty, such as the fear-processing amygdala, differ in structure in liberals and conservatives. And different architecture means different behavior. Liberals tend to seek out novelty and uncertainty, while conservatives exhibit strong changes in attitude to threatening situations. The former are more willing to accept risk, while the latter tends to have more intense physical reactions to threatening stimuli.

Building on this, the new research shows that Democrats exhibited significantly greater activity in the left insula, a region associated with social and self-awareness, during the task. Republicans, however, showed significantly greater activity in the right amygdala, a region involved in our fight-or flight response system."

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-n...6FJM6IA.99

[Syne]

And? Conservatives are willing to fight for what they believe in, always have been.