Red Brain, Blue Brain

A study was published in the journal PLOS ONE on February 13, 2013 concluding that both Democrats and Republicans use different parts of the brain during the decision-making process. This study was completed by Dr. Darren Schreiber and his colleagues at the University of California, where 82 people (35 males, 47 females) were studied during a simple gambling experiment. Party affiliations were recorded at voter registration records. The results for both Democrats (60 people) and Republicans (22 people) were conclusively about the same when looking at gambling choices, but different parts of the brains were activated when thinking through the decision. The researchers were able to predict an individual's political affiliation 82.9% of the time by looking at the brain scans.
Mean age for participant Democrats=22    Republicans=28

Republican Results:

Use the right amygdala- Associated with the "Flight-or-Flight" response
More fearful dispositions
Greater sensitivity to "threatening stimuli"
Reward, fear, risky decisions
More squeamishness

Democrat Results:

Use the left Posterior insula- Associated with self and social awareness and subjective feeling states. 
The left insula is linked to the "Theory of mind," or the "ability to understand what others might be thinking."
Less attention to "negative stimuli or threats"

These differences are linked to social, psychological and logical constraints.

 

Are these differences linked to pre-determined biology, or by external environmental stimuli which affects us, thus impacting affecting how we think? More than likely, it is a bit of both. I am leaning towards the ideology that it is primarily based on how we are affected by our environment. As Dr. Schreiber stated, "We are hardwired not to be hardwired."

Concerns:

The sample size is too low for such a generalization to be statistically backed. 

The number of Democrats and Republicans that were tested should be somewhat the same amount, and the mean ages are also relatively different from one another to be pronounced. Usually younger adults are Democrats, and older adults are sometimes more conservative. 

Thirdly, there are definite environmental and other biological factors which play a role in how we cognitively process events or information. These factors such as one's gender and if they have a family, "race," socioeconomic status, parents' views, education and where they live all play an important role on how we look at other people, as well as political, economic and social policies. These factors are NOT brought up within the media coverage of this study, so many people think that this study represents the difference between black and white, which it does not!

Schreiber D, Fonzo G, Simmons AN, Dawes CT, Flagan T, et al. (2013) Red Brain, Blue Brain: Evaluative Processes Differ in Democrats and Republicans. PLoS ONE 8(2): e52970. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0052970

 http://www.livescience.com/27213-brain-scans-predict-political-party.html