Cognitive Neuroscience Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-1440, USA.
Hum Brain Mapp. 2010 Nov;31(11):1763-71. doi: 10.1002/hbm.20976.
Studies on political participation have found that a person's interest in politics contributes to the likelihood that he or she will be involved in the political process. Here, we looked at whether or not interest in politics affects patterns of brain activity when individuals think about political matters. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we scanned individuals (either interested or uninterested in politics based on a self-report questionnaire) while they were expressing their agreement or disagreement with political opinions. After scanning, participants were asked to rate each political opinion presented in the scanner for emotional valence and emotional intensity. Behavioral results showed that those political opinions participants agreed with were perceived as more emotionally intense and more positive by individuals interested in politics relative to individuals uninterested in politics. In addition, individuals interested in politics showed greater activation in the amygdala and the ventral striatum (ventral putamen) relative to individuals uninterested in politics when reading political opinions in accordance with their own views. This study shows that having an interest in politics elicits activations in emotion- and reward-related brain areas even when simply agreeing with written political opinions.
政治参与研究发现，一个人对政治的兴趣有助于他或她参与政治进程。在这里，我们研究了对政治的兴趣是否会影响个体思考政治问题时的大脑活动模式。我们使用功能磁共振成像（fMRI）技术扫描了个体（根据自我报告问卷，对政治感兴趣或不感兴趣），同时让他们表达对政治观点的同意或不同意。扫描后，参与者被要求对扫描仪中呈现的每一个政治观点进行情绪效价和情绪强度的评分。行为结果表明，相对于对政治不感兴趣的个体，对政治感兴趣的个体认为自己赞同的政治观点在情绪上更强烈、更积极。此外，当个体根据自己的观点阅读政治观点时，对政治感兴趣的个体的杏仁核和腹侧纹状体（腹侧苍白球）的激活程度大于对政治不感兴趣的个体。这项研究表明，即使只是对书面政治观点表示赞同，对政治的兴趣也会引起与情感和奖励相关的大脑区域的激活。
