Our political outlook is hardwired into our brain: Study

LONDON - A study from University College London has revealed that our political leanings are hardwired into our brain.

The team scanned the brains of 90 students and found that those who had a more pronounced amygdala (a primitive part of the brain associated with emotion) were right wing but those aligned to the left had thicker anterior cingulates (an area associated with anticipation and decision-making).

“The amygdala is a part of the brain which is very old and very ancient and thought to be very primitive and to do with the detection of emotions. The right amygdala was larger in those people who described themselves as conservative,” the Daily Mail quoted Geraint Rees director of the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, as saying.

“It is very significant because it does suggest there is something about political attitudes that are either encoded in our brain structure through our experience or that our brain structure in some way determines or results in our political attitudes,” he added.

Colin Firth, who commissioned the study, said, “I took this on as a fairly frivolous exercise: I just decided to find out what was biologically wrong with people who don’t agree with me and see what scientists had to say about it and they actually came up with something.” (ANI)