The Democratic Brain - a podcast by BBC Radio 4

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

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