Politics on the Brain Flashcards
Three large-scale neural networks/circuits underlying social processes and interactions. Wang et al. (2017)
Face perception network
Mirroring network
- allows us to understand actions and emotions by simulating them internally
Mentalizing network (theory of mind)
Summarise the findings from Kanai et al. (2011)
Conservatives were found to have smaller anterior cingulate cortexes and larger amygdalas
Todorov et al. (2015) findings
Electoral outcomes are predicted by how dominant, sociable, threatening, stereotypically Republican, and even stereotypically politician-like candidates’ faces are
Olivola & Todorov (2010) findings
How competent a politicians face looks, predicts the size of the vote share and the likelihood that they will win
Transcranial magnetic stimulation
- The magnetic field created is perpendicular to the coil
- This induces an electrical current in the underlying cortex
- This disrupts neuronal activity, creating a temporary brain ‘lesion’ in the area, temporarily disrupting cognitive processing in that brain region
summarise Ferrari et al. (2016)
TMS on the dmPFC
participants updated their opinion on a made up individual based on a congruent or incongruent statement. giving a score of trustworthiness
sham and real groups
no difference between sham and real for congruent condition
real group were less able to update their opinion than the sham group in the incongruent condition
Denzau & North’s definition of political ideology (1994;2000)
“ideologies are the shared framework of mental models that groups of individuals possess that provide both an interpretation of the environment and a prescription as to how that environment should be structured” (p. 24)
Origin of political right and left?
Since the French Revolution, eighteenth-century supporters of the status quo sat on the right of the French Assembly hall, while opponents in favour of social change sat on the left.
Adorno, Frenkel-Brunswik, Levinson, and Sanford’s (1950)
Identified a set of “authoritarian” personality traits
- strong adherence to conventional values
- belief in absolute obedience to authority figures
- tendency to be rigid in thinking
- preference for strong leadership
- Inflexible and dogmatic thinking styles, resistant to change, an all or nothing view of the world, and less open to new ideas or alternative perspectives
- Displayed higher levels of ethnocentrism
What personality traits are associated with left-wing ideology?
Novelty seeking (Jost, Federico & Napier, 2009)
Openness to experience (Jost et al., 2003)
What cognitive styles are associated with left-wing ideology?
Cognitive flexibility (Crisp & Meleady, 2012)
Cognitive inhibition (Jost et al., 2003)
What personality traits are associated with right-wing ideology?
Conscientious and orderly (Carney, Jost, Gosling, & Potter, 2008)
Threat perceptive (Jost et al., 2003)
Traditionalism (Jost et al., 2003)
Religious (Lipka & Gecewicz, 2017)
What did Amodio, et al. (2007) Hypothesise?
Go/No-Go task
Hypothesised that differences in the cognitive styles of liberals and conservatives might reflect basic differences in information processing mechanisms, such as those involved in conflict monitoring
what is meant by “Conflict monitoring”?
a general mechanism for detecting when one’s habitual response tendency is mismatched with responses required by the current situation
What did Amodio et al. (2007) find?
Greater liberalism associated with stronger conflict-related ACC activity, suggesting greater neurocognitive sensitivity to response conflict
Political orientation reflects individual differences in cognitive control and self-regulation
Stronger conservatism (versus liberalism) was associated with less neurocognitive sensitivity to response conflicts.
At the behavioural level, conservatives were more likely to make errors of commission, and a liberal orientation was associated with better performance on the response-inhibition task
Summarise Schneider et al. (2013)
Looked at brain activity during a risk-taking task
Behaviour did not differ between Democrats and Republicans
Democrats showed greater activity in the left insula
Republicans showed great activity in the right amygdala.
What do twin and genetic studies reveal about the heritability of political attitudes and ideology?
- Heritability: Political attitudes and ideology are about 40% heritable (Dawes & Weinschenk, 2020).
- Shared Genetics & Environment: Account for about 50% of overall variation, with genetics contributing twice as much as the shared environment (Alford et al., 2005).
What are the implications of brain activity differences for political behavior in liberals and conservatives?
Liberals:
Increased ACC (Anterior Cingulate Cortex) activity leads to greater openness to change and new perspectives.
More likely to accept uncertainty and explore novel ideas.
Conservatives:
Stronger amygdala responses lead to heightened sensitivity to threats and risks.
Prefer stability and established structures to reduce perceived risks.
These differences explain divergent approaches to political and social issues.
Define intolerance
“Unwillingnessto accept views, beliefs, or behaviour that differ from one’s own”
What is the Ideological Conflict Hypothesis (ICH)?
Brandt, Reyna, Chambers, Crawford, and Wetherell (2014)
ICH explains why ideological opponents see each other as threats, leading to hostility and polarization.
Suggests individuals across political spectrum can demonstrate intolerance towards opposing ideological beliefs
Key Mechanisms:
Value Conflict → Disagreement over core values (e.g., tradition vs. progress).
Threat Perception → Feeling endangered by opposing beliefs (e.g., conservatives fear social change, liberals fear inequality).
Value Violation → Opposing actions seen as morally wrong, leading to outrage.
Impact: Reinforces political intolerance, dehumanization, and resistance to compromise.
different brain regions contributing to in-group favoritism, bias, and prejudice regulation
(table)
Facial and action perception:
Amygdala, Fusiform Face Area (FFA)
Empathy:
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex (dACC), Anterior Insula
Mentalizing (Theory of Mind):
Medial Prefrontal Cortex (mPFC), Temporoparietal Junction (TPJ)
Moral Sensitivity:
Lateral Orbitofrontal Cortex (OFC)
Reward System:
Medial Orbitofrontal Cortex (OFC), Striatum
Key findings from Andrews et al. (2019) football study
Frontal and subcortical regions showed significant group bias.
Intersubject correlations in these regions were higher for participants from the same group compared with participants from different groups.
Thought to be related to the interpretation of the content viewed.
E.g., Your team scoring = positive. To the opposition = negative.
Linked to reward system, affective processing and memory
Haas et al., (2020) fMRI study
Evaluated policy positions attributed to a political figure
Policy position was either congruent or incongruent with political figure’s party
These were also presented with differing levels of certainty
Results implicated the ACC and insula
Uncertainty influenced neural responses differently as a function of affective/emotional context
E.g., greatest activation in response to party policy position that was incongruent to the political figure’s affiliation and presented with certainty.
Congruent trials greater response to uncertain than certain
Summarise the findings of Van Baar et al. (2021)
Study Published in PNAS (van Baar et al., 2021): Investigates how intolerance of uncertainty (IU) influences brain responses to political content.
Participants & Method:
44 participants (22 liberals, 22 conservatives).
Functional MRI (fMRI) used to measure brain activity while watching political debates and news segments.
Key Findings:
Individuals with higher intolerance of uncertainty (IU) showed greater neural synchrony with like-minded peers.
They exhibited less synchrony with ideological opponents, reinforcing political polarization.
This pattern was observed across both liberals and conservatives, suggesting that uncertainty aversion amplifies ideological biases.
Conclusion:
Intolerance of uncertainty intensifies polarized perceptions by shaping how political information is processed in the brain.
People’s neural responses align more with their political ideology, making them more resistant to opposing viewpoints.
Social brain network – brothers (1990)
Amygdala:
Emotional processing and response to stimuli
Orbitofrontal Cortex (OFC):
Integration of emotional and social information, and evaluation of outcomes such as rewards
Temporal Cortex:
E.g., STS, involved in processing social cues such as faces and speech
Explain case EVR
Saver & Damasio (1991)
35 years old
Underwent resection of a bilateral orbitofrontal meningioma (tumour in the meninges)
Extensive bilateral VMPFC lesions with the tumour resection
Remarkable decline in personal and professional life
2 divorces
Job loss & bankruptcy.
Affected social cognition and decision making more broadly
HOWEVER… neuropsychological testing indicated intellectual abilities were unaffected
Describe Adolphs (2009) Social brain diagram
Hierarchical Processing:
Information flows top to bottom, starting from sensory processing and moving towards higher-level cognition (social reasoning, empathy, and morality).
Different brain regions contribute to different aspects of perception, evaluation, and response.
Breakdown of Processing Stages:
Coarse Sensory Processing (Superior Colliculus, Early Sensory Cortices) → Basic sensory information detection.
Detailed Sensory Processing (Fusiform Gyrus, Superior Temporal Gyrus) → Face and object recognition, auditory processing.
Reward Evaluation (Amygdala, Orbitofrontal Cortex, Ventral Striatum) → Emotional significance, motivation, reward processing.
Representation of Perceived Action (Mirror Neurons, Premotor Cortex) → Action understanding, imitation, motor planning.
Motivation (Anterior Cingulate Cortex) → Drive for action and response selection.
Theory of Mind (Temporoparietal Junction, Medial Prefrontal Cortex, Posterior Cingulate) → Understanding others’ mental states and intentions.
Feeling, Empathy, Moral Emotion (Insula, Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex) → Emotional experience, moral sensitivity.
Social Reasoning (Prefrontal Cortex) → Complex social judgments, decision-making.
Role of Self-Regulation & Context (Reappraisal):
Certain higher-order cognitive functions (e.g., Theory of Mind, Empathy, Social Reasoning) are influenced by self-regulation and reappraisal mechanisms.
These processes modulate emotional reactions and social behaviors.
which part of the brain is important in conflict detection in Stroop/ Stroop like task (i.e. Kerns et al., 2004) as well as for detecting social conflict (i.e. Izuma & Adolphs 2013; Izuma et al., 2010)
Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC)
what areas of the brain are part of the default mode network (DMN)
Medial Prefrontal Cortex (mPFC)
Involved in self-referential thinking, decision-making, and social cognition.
Helps process personal identity, emotions, and moral reasoning.
Posterior Cingulate Cortex (PCC) & Precuneus
The PCC is a hub of the DMN, linking self-awareness and memory.
The precuneus is involved in visual imagery, episodic memory, and perspective-taking.
Temporoparietal Junction (TPJ)
Important for theory of mind (understanding others’ perspectives).
Plays a role in distinguishing self from others.
Medial Temporal Lobe (MTL) (including Hippocampus)
Involved in memory consolidation and retrieval.
Helps process past experiences and imagine future scenarios.
Lateral Parietal Cortex (Inferior Parietal Lobule - IPL)
Involved in mind-wandering, daydreaming, and conceptual thinking.
Helps with contextual memory and spontaneous thoughts
The network of brain areas important for theory of mind include:
Temporoparietal Junction (TPJ)
Helps distinguish self vs. others.
Crucial for understanding intentions, beliefs, and perspectives of others.
Active during false belief tasks (when we predict that someone else holds a belief different from reality).
Medial Prefrontal Cortex (mPFC)
Processes self-referential thoughts and social reasoning.
Involved in evaluating others’ intentions and emotions.
Important for making moral judgments.
Posterior Cingulate Cortex (PCC) & Precuneus
Supports mental imagery of social situations.
Helps in reflecting on past interactions and predicting future behaviors.
Superior Temporal Sulcus (STS)
Processes biological motion (e.g., eye gaze, facial expressions, body language).
Important for interpreting social cues in dynamic interactions.
Amygdala
Regulates emotional responses to social interactions.
Helps recognize emotional expressions and social salience.
what is social identity theory
Developed in the 1970s
A significant proportion of our identity is attributed to membership in social groups
Four core social identity constructs:
Social categorisation
Self-group overlap
Ingroup bias
Coping with threat
Neuroscientific evidence allows for a more direct measure than self-reported behavioural testing
Can identify subtle forms of ingroup bias at the neural level
Neuroscience of social identity
- Group bias
- Outgroup threat
3.Cognitive dissonance
4.Reward
1.mPFC empathy and social processing
- Greater activity here when thinking about in-group
2.Amygdala emotion processing (fear and threat, for example)
- Greater activity when thinking about out-group
Political context: Fear or anxiety about political opponents more intense emotional response
3. ACC -> conflict monitoring
- Political context: presented with information inconsistent with their own held beliefs / not what is expected greater activity
4. Dopamine pathway
- Political context: More active when information aligns with expectations and ideologies
Martin and Weisberg (2003) examined fMRI responses to geometric animations that conveyed social vs mechanical interaction
what were the findings?
Social condition activated regions of posterior temporal cortex, previously associated with identifying human faces (Haxby, Hoffman, & Gobbini, 2000; but see also Duchaine & Yovel, 2015)
RUFf and fehr (2014)Schematic models
1.Extended common currency schema
2.Social valuation specific schema
1.Similar neural processes assign motivational relevance to social/non-social information
Similar network of brain function that encode social versus non-social information
2.Assumes a devoted neural network which specifically encode values accompanying interactions and decisions that involve others
Social specific
Izuma et al., (2008)
Participants asked to perform tasks involving
non-social reward (money)
social reward (good reputation from others- compliment)
what were the findings?
Found that the striatum were significantly activated for both monetary and social rewards
Wake & izuma (2017)
Re-analysed the original data using multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA)
Left caudate nucleus and bilateral nucleus accumbens, social versus monetary reward were represented similarly.
what were the findings?
The findings suggest that social and monetary rewards are processed by the same population of neurons within these regions of the striatum.
Wake & izuma (2017) continued
Also similar neural patterns when participants experience high social reward themselves compared to viewing others receiving low social reward
Why may this be?
The same population of neurons may be responsible for processing two different types of social reward (good reputation and schadenfreude).
