Deeper than you think: partisan-dependent brain response

Abstract

Recent political polarization has highlighted the extent to which individuals with opposing views experience ongoing events in markedly different ways. In this study, we explored the neural mechanisms underpinning this phenomenon. We conducted functional magnetic resonance image (fMRI) scanning right- and left-wing participants watching political videos just before the 2019 elections in Israel. Behavioral results demonstrated significant differences between left- and right-wing participants in their interpretation of the videos’ content. Neuroimaging results revealed partisanship-dependent differences in both high-order regions and early-motor and somato-sensory regions, although no such differences were found with regard to neutral content. Moreover, we found that most of the political content was more potent in synchronizing participants with right-wing views, and that this synchronization was observed already in early visual and auditory cortices. These results suggest that political polarization is not limited to higher-order processes as previously thought, but rather emerges already in motor and sensory regions.