Brain Chemistry & Political Attitudes: Neural Switch Theory

In summary, a recent study uses the “threat-based neural switch theory” to investigate how brain chemistry affects political attitudes. According to this idea, stress from war and economic crises modifies brain functions, making people more receptive to straightforward political messages that are frequently extreme.

The study suggests that under stress, cognitive systems change and prioritize automatic reactions over sophisticated thought processes, which accounts for this vulnerability. The goal of the research is to create interventions that encourage more sophisticated political reasoning and judgment.

Important Details:

1. Brain Impact on Politics: The study looks into how people become more susceptible to oversimplified political views when their neural systems are under stress.
2. Effects of Stress: Stressful situations, such as financial crises, cause the brain to switch from goal-directed to simpler, more automatic information processing.
3. Future Interventions: The goal of the project is to diminish the preference for dogmatic messages and encourage more thoughtful political judgments by using non-invasive brain stimulation.

James Cook University is the source.

A novel notion regarding how people’s political opinions are formed by brain chemistry is being investigated by researchers. Professor Zoltan Sarnyai of James Cook University is a neuroscientist. He was a member of an international team investigating the threat-based brain switch hypothesis, which aims to make individuals think more carefully before making decisions and to calm the political atmosphere.

Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences publishes the study.

‘” History has shown us that economic crises and other sociopolitical threats often lead to a rise of polarization and radicalism, whereby people become more susceptible to intolerant political messages, including propaganda,” said Professor Sarnyai.

Even though this has been studied extensively, we still lack a crucial piece of information that would enable us to comprehend the neurological and cognitive processes in the brain that mediate the relationship between these dangers and the receptivity of the brain to political messages.

“The idea is that political information is processed much like non-political information and is influenced by the interplay between neurological processes,” said Professor Sarnyai.

According to him, stressors like financial crises and wars can throw these processes out of balance and make people more open to politically simplistic messaging than to more nuanced and analytical information.

“Stress can alter information processing by shifting learning and memory systems from goal-directed, declarative memory processes toward habit and statistical learning.

“In stressful situations, the processing of simple statistics and regularities becomes more effective for the brain than dealing with more complex patterns,” said Professor Sarnyai.

To determine whether there is a correlation between weakened pre-frontal cortex areas and an increased inclination for politically dogmatic messaging, the researchers want to conduct non-invasive brain stimulation trials.

“Rather than describing it as a malfunction of cognitive systems or brain networks, we will think about susceptibility to ideological messages as reflecting an imbalance between cognitive systems.

“This will allow us to develop a more holistic and nuanced understanding of how to counter dogmatic ideological thinking to help people make considered political decisions,” said Professor Sarnyai.

For more information: The interplay between subcortical and prefrontal brain structures in shaping ideological belief formation and updating, Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2024.101385