The partisan brain

Emory psychologist, Drew Westen, has led a study in which neuroscientists explore what parts of the brain are engaged when people are interacting from politically partisan positions.

No surprise: in these situations, the unconscious parts of the brain are most active and the rational parts of the brain tend to be quiet.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 25th, 2006 at 4:52pm and is filed under Appreciative living. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

3 Responses to “The partisan brain”

  1. Daniella
    January 26th, 2006 10:29
    1

    I need to remember those words next time I am feeling engaged in political discussion.

  2. jack
    January 26th, 2006 10:37
    2

    Seriously! I have long made the mistake of trying to appeal to logic with someone unconscious from emotion-based positions.

  3. Jim
    January 26th, 2006 21:52
    3

    I’ve heard that called a “reptillian regression.” (brain stem) Remember what your third grade teacher said. “Keep you thinking caps on!”- the neocortex- the place of creativity and imagination.

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