Politically extreme people show similar brain activity, regardless of ideology, study finds

New Delhi, Aug 29 (PTI) Brain scans have revealed that extreme liberals and conservatives may respond to and process political information in similar ways — moderates instead showed diverse brain responses, compared to extremists.

The findings, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, provide scientific evidence in support of the 'horseshoe theory' of politics.

This theory says the political spectrum is not a line, but a horseshoe — extremes at both ends may resemble each other more than moderates, researchers said.

"Our findings suggest that individuals with extreme opposing views may be more alike than they realise. Recognising this shared experience could foster greater empathy and reduce dehumanisation across the political divide," co-author Oriel FeldmanHall, a professor of cognitive and psychological sciences at US' Brown University, said.

Forty-four people of varying ideology and levels of extremism watched a politically charged video and were monitored using functional MRI (fMRI) brain scans. The skin and eyes of the participants were also tracked for assessing emotional responses.

"Both extreme liberals and extreme conservatives consumed the same political content, and even though they held vastly different beliefs, their brains appeared to process the information in a very similar manner," FeldmanHall said.

"In contrast, moderates showed much more diverse brain responses, suggesting that extremity -- above and beyond ideology -- drives this shared way of processing political information," the co-author said.

The authors "show that regardless of which side of the political aisle an individual is on, those with more extreme views show heightened neural activity to politically charged content in brain regions (involved in processing emotions)." Politically extreme individuals were found to be most in sync during segments of the video featuring more extreme language.

They were also more physiologically aroused, with bodily responses appearing to magnify the synced brains, which the researchers said pointed to how emotion and arousal help in binding people to their political beliefs.

"Regardless of whether someone identified as extremely liberal or extremely conservative, their brain responded to political stimuli in similar ways," co-author Daantje de Bruin, a doctoral student at Brown University, said.

"This suggests that it's not just what you believe, but how strongly you believe it and how emotionally reactive you are that shapes your perception of political reality," de Bruin said.

The authors' findings "suggest a role for affect (emotions) in shaping ideological extremity, which helps explain why those at the far ends of the political spectrum come to view the world through a shared, extreme lens." PTI KRS KRS AMJ AMJ