truthiness

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mind-in-the-machine/201812/complete-psychological-analysis-trumps-support?em

WARNING: This article is very long and may be injurious to your health and well-being.

Blade_Runner Loc: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

Yeah, Booby Azarian is one hell of a credible source. Anyone who reads his biased bulls**t is in danger of losing IQ points. I got about a third of the way through that s**t and had to stop and read some of Einstein and Freud just to recover.

truthiness

tsk tsk Blade, your amygdala is showing. But kudos for even reading part of it.

archie bunker Loc: Texas

Yeah, yeah, yeah, my brain is jacked up. People tell me that all the time. So what?

truthiness

I don't know. Maybe that is good for you and where you should be operating from.

archie bunker Loc: Texas

Pull my finger.......

Blade_Runner Loc: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

The amygdala plays a key role in processing emotions, it is the primary control mechanism for babies, boobies, and liberals. I tend to favor the frontal lobe that deals with thinking. That's where you do the critical stuff like logic and reasoning.

JoyV

There have been several studies regarding the amygdala. One of the problems with understanding the data is those writing the conclusions. For instance, those on the left tend to have smaller amygdalas. The conclusion reached by many of those doing the research is that those on the right have a******lly large amygdala. But couldn't it just as easily be those on the left have a******lly small amygdala? But if you actually look beyond left and right, but correlate other factors, a different picture might emerge. More young people under 25 are on the left politically than 26 to 35. And these are more left than 36 to 45. While those 46 and up are generally far more right. With each age group leaning more and more right. Doesn't that lead to the novel idea that the amygdala grows with age? And if those with a larger amygdala tend toward the right, then wouldn't being on the left be a sign of immaturity? Most who are right wing now were far more idealistic when young before they could see beyond the ideal and into the workability of those ideals. The studies haven't looked into such correlations, but it makes logical sense. There are those whose amygdala atrophy or simply don't grow and remain in a juvenile frame of mind. There are youngsters who lean right but often not because they understand the big picture any better on their own, but have had it pointed out to them.

The amygdala does far more than process emotions. It is key in identifying patterns. And it is this pattern identification which is key in identifying what may be a threat or benign. People who have paranoidal tendencies often have under developed amygdala. They cannot see the patterns which would let them know that there is no threat. While those front line soldiers who have well developed amygdala can relax or even sleep through close barrages as they know they aren't hitting close enough, but in a split instant react to a change which tells them the trajectory has moved toward them. This can't be done instantly through logical reasoning. This threat recognition results in LESS fear, not more. Probably why safe spaces needn't be provided for those with well developed amygdala. It isn't a matter of which portion of the brain is better. Each portion of the brain has its function and is important.

truthiness

Too slimy, thanks.

archie bunker Loc: Texas

Read the post above, and smell the roses.

truthiness

"Amygdala size has been correlated with cognitive styles with regard to political thinking. A study found that "greater liberalism was associated with increased gray matter volume in the anterior cingulate cortex, whereas greater conservatism was associated with increased volume of the right amygdala." These findings suggest that the volume of the amygdala and anterior cingulate gyrus may be associated with an individual's ability to tolerate uncertainty and conflict.[86]" Wikipedia.

As JoyV says (but no references) it is a complicated matter. I don't know what the average size of an amygdala is, but there is a study that shows London cab drivers have larger amygdalas for (nonpolitrical)reasons that Joy suggests above. Perhaps there is no data on this or Joy would have shown it. Normal size is not an insignificant detail. Early last century, young children were evaluated for thymus size, and physicians thought that kids had what they thought were over large thymuses until they realized that their original sample size that they based their original measurements on came from a population of a******l kids who had under-sized thymuses and the large thymuses were the normal ones.

So bunk, maybe you ought to check things out for yourself before acccepting or rejecting other opinions. We are here to determine t***h, right? I am confident your amygdala is just fine, I wouldn't worry about it.

Blade_Runner Loc: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

Who gives a flying fk about this anatomical and brain organism crap, the human spirit is what counts.

archie bunker Loc: Texas

Were you not attempting to assert that people who support Trump have something wrong with their brains?
Or, maybe, you were trying to assert that the brains of Trump supporters work correctly.
I'm not sure.

truthiness

Brilliant! But to answer your question, apparently JoyV does care.

JoyV

The larger sized amygdala of cab drivers would fit right in with what I said about pattern recognition. An experienced cab driver would certainly not logically solve how to negotiate every shift in traffic as it happens.

My post is not taken directly from any single abstract, but is my conclusions based on the findings of a number of studies. I first became interested after reading an article about differences in the brains of liberals and conservatives. I tracked down the study and read it. While I don't agree with their conclusions, and find the way they structured the study to be wanting; there is some good data to be found. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130213173131.htm

Then I sought out a more scientific abstract which didn't appear to be done with preconceived political bias. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3092984/

And here is a study on the size differences of right and left amygdala, and other brain structures. While nothing in the study mentions political ideology, I noted that the articles regarding size differences of liberals vs conservatives described the same differences as this one for age. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3633516/

While this study was not focused on political ideology, it is very useful as it indicates a definite correlation between psychological differences in people and the differences in their amygdala. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28689329

This article is not an abstract but an article written by a top pioneering neuroscientist regarding his work and the common misinterpretations. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/i-got-mind-tell-you/201508/the-amygdala-is-not-the-brains-fear-center

Within a Wikipedia article on the amygdala, I've copied out two snippets I find interesting. "Social interaction
Amygdala volume correlates positively with both the size (the number of contacts a person has) and the complexity (the number of different groups to which a person belongs) of social networks.[64][65] Individuals with larger amygdalae had larger and more complex social networks. The amygdala is responsible for facial recognition and allows others to respond appropriately to different emotional expressions.[66] They were also better able to make accurate social judgments about other persons' faces.[67] The amygdala's role in the analysis of social situations stems specifically from its ability to identify and process changes in facial features. It does not, however, process the direction of the gaze of the person being perceived.[68][69]

The amygdala is also thought to be a determinant of the level of a person's emotional intelligence. It is particularly hypothesized that larger amygdalae allow for greater emotional intelligence, enabling greater societal integration and cooperation with others.[70]"

And
"Political orientation
Amygdala size has been correlated with cognitive styles with regard to political thinking. A study found that "greater liberalism was associated with increased gray matter volume in the anterior cingulate cortex, whereas greater conservatism was associated with increased volume of the right amygdala." These findings suggest that the volume of the amygdala and anterior cingulate gyrus may be associated with an individual's ability to tolerate uncertainty and conflict.[86]"

So a larger amygdala allows for greater social interactions and is associated with conservatism. Of course that is extremely simplistic, but not inaccurate. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amygdala

I can't remember where else I've read studies regarding the amygdala. I know there was another regarding size and age broken down into a number of age groups, yet not as in depth as the one I included. But I'm afraid I've misplaced the site.