【】

Perhaps you've been here this holiday season: A family member shares a political belief that is entirely the opposite of your own, and suddenly your blood is boiling. You either bite your tongue, and quietly fill with rage, or fire back with an impassioned rebuttal.。
Neuroscientists say they now can track how this common experience unfolds in the brain. 。
When our political beliefs are challenged, our brains light up in areas that govern personal identity and emotional responses to threats, according to a study published Dec. 23 in the 。 Nature 。 Nature 。 journal。
Scientific Reports.。SEE ALSO:This Chrome extension shows you how biased your social feed is。

"Political beliefs are like religious beliefs, in the respect that both are part of who you are and important for the social circle to which you belong," Jonas Kaplan, the study's lead author and a psychological professor at the University of Southern California (USC)'s Brain and Creativity Institute, said in a news release. 。

Now even cookies are involved.Credit: Anthony Behar/Sipa USA。
The study offers a fresh perspective on how people respond to conflicting ideas -- be they political opinions or the dubious contents of fake news stories -- and could help us figure out how to have more constructive conversations during these divisive times, said Sarah Gimbel, a co-author and research scientist at the Brain and Creativity Institute. 。
"Understanding when and why people are likely to change their minds is an urgent objective," she said in a statement. 。
For the study, the neuroscientists recruited 40 self-declared liberals. 。
By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. 。

Researchers wanted to determine which brain networks would respond when someone's firmly held beliefs are challenged. So they compared whether and how much participants changed their minds on political and non-political issues when provided counter-evidence. 。
Protesters on both sides of the abortion issue rally in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C, on June 20, 2016.Credit: Mark wilson/Getty Images。
During their sessions, participants were presented with eight political statements that they said they agreed with, such as, "The laws regulating gun ownership in the United States should be made more restrictive," or that the U.S. should reduce funding for the military. 。
Participants were then shown five counter claims challenging each statement. Next, they rated the strength of their belief in the original statement on a scale of 1-7.。

Researchers found that the brain's amygdala and insular cortex were more active in people who were most resistant to changing their beliefs. Both brain areas are important for emotion and decision-making and are associated with fear, anxiety, emotional responses and the perception of threat.。
A view of the amygdalae, the two almond-shaped areas hugging the center of the brain near the front that tend to become active when someone is digging in their heels about a political belief.Credit: Brain and Creativity Institute at USC。
Participants' default mode networks -- a system in the brain -- also saw a spike in activity when people's political beliefs were challenged. 。
"These areas of the brain have been linked to thinking about who we are, and with the kind of rumination or deep thinking that takes us away from the here and now," Kaplan said.。
But while people wouldn't budge on political topics like abortion or same-sex marriage, participants tended to cling less tightly to their beliefs on non-political topics.。
For instance, participants' beliefs weakened by one or two points when they were shown counter evidence on statements such as whether "Thomas Edison invented the light bulb" or "Albert Einstein was the greatest physicist of the 20th century."。
Brain activity in the amygdala and insular cortex was also less active when people were more willing to change their minds, the researchers found. 。
相关文章
Photos show the Blue Cut fire blazing a path of destruction in California
A fast moving wildfire continued raging near San Bernadino, California, forcing the evacuation of at2025-04-24- 瓜帥 :利物浦贏因他們陣容好 渣叔:不想談四冠王_比賽_克洛普_決賽www.ty42.com 日期:2022-04-17 03:31:00| 評論(已有341213條評論)2025-04-24
- 廣州隊主帥:柔佛新山是一支強大的球隊 但我們不怕他們_潘勇赫_球員_亞冠www.ty42.com 日期:2022-04-15 15:02:00| 評論(已有341011條評論)2025-04-24
- 粵媒:亞冠客戰馬來西亞班霸級球隊 廣州隊搶分前景不樂觀_新山_比賽_球員www.ty42.com 日期:2022-04-15 17:01:00| 評論(已有341022條評論)2025-04-24
Uber's $100M settlement over drivers as contractors may not be enough
UPDATE: Sept. 7, 2016, 4:41 p.m. EDT 。 A ruling in a different case on Wednesday, Sept. 7 may have ch2025-04-24- 盤點這些年廣州隊開出的罰單:5人被開除總罰款超千萬_廣州隊關浩津吃紅牌被球隊開除_恒大_球員www.ty42.com 日期:2022-04-17 09:01:00| 評論(已有341230條評論)2025-04-24
最新评论