Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share The Democratic Brain
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
The Democratic Brain
Our brain is a wonderful machine, but it can also short-circuit. What happens to us when emotions and politics intersect, when the democratic, listening brain is cut off, or when we succumb to ‘hate speech’? Research using the latest brain scanners shows that the older part of the brain called the amygdala is ‘triggered’ by emotional responses out of proportion to the impacting stimulus. So, perhaps are we after wolves in human clothing? Not necessarily; we have also developed the frontal cortex which the scans show is stimulated by rational argument. What can scanning the brain reveal about our political affiliations? Can the field of neuro-politics improve political discourse or leave us open to manipulation?
Presenter: Matt Qvortrup
Producer: Bob Howard
Editor: Clare Fordham
Contributors:
Barbara Sahakian, Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology at the University of Cambridge
Dr Darren Schreiber, Senior Lecturer at Exeter University
Skyler Cranmer, Associate Professor at Ohio State University
Dahlia Scheindlin, political consultant and public opinion researcher
Dr Liya Yu, Columbia University
View all episodes
By BBC Radio 4
4.6
195195 ratings
Our brain is a wonderful machine, but it can also short-circuit. What happens to us when emotions and politics intersect, when the democratic, listening brain is cut off, or when we succumb to ‘hate speech’? Research using the latest brain scanners shows that the older part of the brain called the amygdala is ‘triggered’ by emotional responses out of proportion to the impacting stimulus. So, perhaps are we after wolves in human clothing? Not necessarily; we have also developed the frontal cortex which the scans show is stimulated by rational argument. What can scanning the brain reveal about our political affiliations? Can the field of neuro-politics improve political discourse or leave us open to manipulation?
Presenter: Matt Qvortrup
Producer: Bob Howard
Editor: Clare Fordham
Contributors:
Barbara Sahakian, Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology at the University of Cambridge
Dr Darren Schreiber, Senior Lecturer at Exeter University
Skyler Cranmer, Associate Professor at Ohio State University
Dahlia Scheindlin, political consultant and public opinion researcher
Dr Liya Yu, Columbia University
More shows like Analysis
View all
Global News Podcast
7,938 Listeners
From Our Own Correspondent
378 Listeners
More or Less
864 Listeners
Newshour
1,066 Listeners
The Reith Lectures
158 Listeners
In Our Time
5,583 Listeners
The Documentary Podcast
1,809 Listeners
In Our Time: History
1,903 Listeners
6 Minute English
1,737 Listeners
Learning English Conversations
1,011 Listeners
Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4
2,115 Listeners
The Infinite Monkey Cage
1,955 Listeners
Profile
112 Listeners
The Media Show
32 Listeners
BBC Inside Science
411 Listeners
Moral Maze
73 Listeners
The Inquiry
745 Listeners
Start the Week
160 Listeners
Any Questions? and Any Answers?
44 Listeners
Daily Politics from the New Statesman
141 Listeners
The Briefing Room
74 Listeners
You're Dead to Me
3,244 Listeners
The Bomb
1,009 Listeners
Westminster Insider
42 Listeners
Radical with Amol Rajan
45 Listeners