NYT, page 1: Using M.R.I.s to See Politics on the Brain

[DeepModem Mom]

Using M.R.I.'s to See Politics on the Brain
By JOHN TIERNEY

Published: April 20, 2004


LOS ANGELES, April 16 — The political consultants discreetly observed from the next room as their subject watched the campaign commercials. But in this political experiment, unlike the usual ones, the subject did not respond by turning a dial or discussing his reactions with a focus group.

He lay inside an M.R.I. machine, watching commercials playing on the inside of his goggles as neuroscientists from the University of California, Los Angeles, measured the blood flow in his brain. Instead of asking the subject, John Graham, a Democratic voter, what he thought of the use of Sept. 11 images in a Bush campaign commercial, the researchers noted which parts of Mr. Graham's brain were active as he watched. The active parts, they also noted, were different from the parts that had lighted up in earlier tests with Republican brains.

The researchers do not claim to have figured out either party's brain yet, since they have not finished this experiment. But they have already noticed intriguing patterns in how Democrats and Republicans look at candidates. They have tested 11 subjects and say they need to test twice that many to confirm the trend.

"These new tools could help us someday be less reliant on clichés and unproven adages," said Tom Freedman, a strategist in the 1996 Clinton campaign, later a White House aide and now a sponsor of the research. "They'll help put a bit more science in political science."...


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/20/science/20SCAN.html

[Zhade]

1. ...and form a basis for purges.

If this doesn't read as 1984, then I don't know what that book is about.

Scary stuff.

[spooked]

2. The simple explanation...Democrats have more Heart

"The first interpretation that occurred to me," Professor Iacoboni said, "is that the Democrats see the 9/11 issue as a good way for Bush to get re-elected, and they experience that as a threat."

But then the researchers noted that same spike in amygdala activity when the Democrats watched the nuclear explosion in the "Daisy" spot, which promoted a Democrat.

Mr. Freedman suggested another interpretation based on his political experience: the theory that Democrats are generally more alarmed by any use of force than Republicans are..."

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. Theory, hypothesis or assumption?

Is it a theory or a hypothesis? They're just throwing those theories around like fish off a trawler.

[spooked]

4. Republicans have FORGOTTEN about 911!!

Or did they EVER process the experience the same way Democrats did to begin with!? To them, was it only seen as an opportunity for War?
What else would explain the fact that Republicans didn't "store" this event in their Amygdala?

http://www.heartmath.org/estk_t/emo_memories.html

Memories of how people have felt in the past are stored in the amygdala (ah-mig-dah-la), which is an almond-sized structure located in the 2nd brain. Emotional memories can cause people to react automatically—based on things that happened in the past that are not appropriate in the current situation. For example, emotional memories can be triggered by something that is happening in the present time that is similar to something that’s happened before. The feeling pops in so fast that the 3rd brain doesn’t have time to think about it. Without thinking, we just react - for example, getting upset, angry, or nervous based on a misperception caused by the feelings -triggered from the memory of a past situation.

WHEN PEOPLE FEEL A STRONG EMOTION, THE AMYGDALA REMEMBERS IT, along with anything connected with the event. That’s why if something happens similar to a past event, it can trigger that old feeling without our even being aware of it...

http://www.heartmath.org/estk_t/emo_memories.html

[Media_Lies_Daily]

5. Oh, they remember 911 alright...they wish WE would forget.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

6. Repug MRI:

[treepig]

7. another view

[DeepModem Mom]

8. LOL, treepig, and RummyIsFrosted!

[qb]

9. Code Blue! Code Blue! His brain scan is flat!

Just turn off that damn Bush commercial - he'll be fine.