Conservative voters have larger ’emotion centres’ in the brain, study reveals

Our political allegiances really could be hard-wired into our brains, neuroscientists believe.

For research in the Netherlands has suggested the brains of Conservatives are a different shape to that of Left-wingers.  

Scans of more than 900 Gen-Z adults showed right-leaning voters have larger amygdalas, the area of the brain connected to emotion. 

Experts today labelled the findings ‘surprising’. But warned it was not precise enough to be able to predict someone’s stance simply from a scan. 

Scans of more than 900 Gen-Z adults showed right-leaning voters have larger amygdalas, the area of the brain connected to emotion

 It also builds on landmark research, originally commissioned by actor Colin Firth in 2010 as part of his role as guest editor of BBC 4’s Today programme, that uncovered a ‘strong correlation’ between increased grey matter in the amygdala and political views.  

Professor Diamantis Petropoulos Petalas, study lead author and an expert in psychology at the University of Amsterdam, said: ‘It was really a surprise that we replicated the amygdala finding.

‘Quite honestly, we did not expect to replicate any of these findings.

‘The amygdala controls for the perception and the understanding of threats and risk uncertainty.

‘So it makes a lot of sense that individuals who are more sensitive towards these issues have higher needs for security, which is something that typically aligns with more conservative ideas in politics,’ 

The findings build on landmark research, originally commissioned by actor Colin Firth (pictured) in 2010, that uncovered a ‘strong correlation’ between increased grey matter in the amygdala and political views

In the study, researchers from the University of Amsterdam and The American College of Greece assessed the scans of 928 Dutch adults aged between 19 and 26 who had a differing levels of education. 

Each was quizzed on where they stand on social and economic issues including women’s and LGBTQ+ rights, income equality and which political party they identify with.

Their brain data was then paired against the questionnaire. 

They found self-proclaimed right-wingers had a more pronounced amygdala — an almond-shape set of neurons located deep in the brain’s medial temporal lobe, that processes emotion. 

Writing in the journal iScience, however, researchers said this association was ‘three times smaller compared to the original study’. 

In the initial 2010 study, scientists at University College London assessed brain scans of 90 students. 

They also discovered those aligned to the left had thicker anterior cingulates — an area associated with courage and decision-making.

But scientists today did not find any association between conservatism and a smaller volume of gray matter in the ACC.

Instead, they uncovered a link between Conservatives and greater grey matter in the right fusiform gyrus, a region in the temporal lobe that is essential for visual and cognitive functions.

Professor Petropoulos said: ‘These regions have to do with facial recognition, so it makes sense that they might be involved when one is thinking about political issues, because political issues often remind us of the political personas that represent ideology on those issues.

‘Just the memory of the face of a politician, for instance, might make the fusiform gyrus light up a little.

 ‘We see ideology as a complex, multidimensional product; that includes different attitudes on social and economic matters, as well as identification with progressive or conservative ideals — it’s really not just about the left or the right,’

• An earlier version of this article suggested the study had concluded conservative voters are more compassionate. The headline has been amended and we are happy to clarify that while the area of the brain referred to in the study relates to emotions, the paper did not refer specifically to ‘compassion’.