Friday, March 10, 2006

Say What About My Right Amygdala?

Ok, I feel quite dumb right now.

I need Meathe, he would understand this stuff. It's science. Fascinating but utterly foreign.

I just took a "political psychological" survey at Neuropolitics and I understand none of what it said! Woo! Go, me!

It's intersting though, worth checking out if you understand that sort of stuff. It's linked here.

I've stuck my results behind the cut in hopes that someone smarter than I can translate it for me!

DUH! Your responses are consistent with the following attributes: You have a probable elevation in your dopaminergic activation system. Your social behavior is consistent with stronger serotonergic activity and a reduction in submissive behaviors. Your right prefrontal cortex is more involved in your political decision making than your left. Your olfactory system plays a stronger than average role in mating behavior. Indicators of enhanced right prefrontal and bilateral temporal activity in humor detection. Prefrontal cortical regions are facilitating greater than average behavioral inhibition. Color preference indicative of lower dopaminergic activity in your visual cortex. You have a preference for umambiguity in your thinking styles, and a probable elevation in your left inferior parietal cortex and left temporal cortex. Your responses indicated a tendency to classify facial expressions as more threatening, and an elevation in activity in your right amygdala. Overall, your cognitive style is balanced between your left and right hemispheres.

1. Disclaimer: This is not a definitive analysis. I know not a whit of brain function.

   You have a probable elevation in your dopaminergic activation system.
   Dopamine is commonly associated with the pleasure system of the brain, that fuzzy warm enjoyment feeling (and subsequent motivation to repeat activities that make you feel that way). Dopamine is released by naturally-rewarding experiences such as food, sex, etc. You got it going on.

   Your social behavior is consistent with stronger serotonergic activity and a reduction in submissive behaviors.
   The serotoninergic system modulates mood, emotion, sleep and appetite (of all kinds), low levels are bad. You seem fine. You’re also a ‘top’.

   Your right prefrontal cortex is more involved in your political decision making than your left.
   Quite a few studies suggest that normally the left side plays a role in happy feelings, while the right side aids negative feelings. When you cast a vote, its likely becuase you think the other candidate is a dick, rather than you liking the person you’re voting for.

   Your olfactory system plays a stronger than average role in mating behavior.
   Someone with the right pheremones will smell good to you for a reason you can’t put your finger on.  Someone with dubious personal hygene isn’t getting anywhere.

   Indicators of enhanced right prefrontal and bilateral temporal activity in humor detection.
   You like black comedy, you’re extroverted and you’re a woman (men fire the prefrontals when humour being processed, women also tend to use other parts of the brain). Researchers have found that extroversion lines up with increased activation of the right orbital frontal cortex, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, and bilateral temporal cortices.

   Prefrontal cortical regions are facilitating greater than average behavioral inhibition.
   A cautious extrovert?  The pfc is your ‘executive control’.  It lets you differentiate between good/bad/better, the consequences of actions, working towards a goal and social control.  I imagine this is not quite firing properly in sociopaths, so you should be safe to be around.  You’re very much aware of consequences of actions, and you don’t want to fuck up.

   Color preference indicative of lower dopaminergic activity in your visual cortex.
   This is clashing with the first one a bit.  The only reference to dopamine and colour preference I could find was in quail breeding, so I’ll beg off this one.

   You have a preference for umambiguity in your thinking styles, and a probable elevation in your left inferior parietal cortex and left temporal cortex.
   You’ll call a spade a spade and you visualise problems.  The parietal lobe is where spatial information gets crunched (ie. where my hand has to go to hit the right letter).  This one was a bitch to find. “Anatomic connections of inferior parietal cortex (area 7) with subcortical structures related to vestibulo-ocular function in a monkey (Macaca fascicularis).” (or “Brain activity and hand-eye coordination in Macaques") was quite dry reading. Please don’t make me read it again.

   Your responses indicated a tendency to classify facial expressions as more threatening, and an elevation in activity in your right amygdala.
   Things that hit you emotionally are more likely to be remembered and you’ll see facial expressions as more threatening than average (according to them). The amygdala is the central player in emotions, linked to both fear and pleasure, and both forming and storing memories for emotional events.

   meathe  on  03/10  at  12:19 PM
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