--- title: "Scientists Scanned the Brains of Authoritarians and Found Something Weird" description: "People who support authoritarianism on either side of the political divide have, according to a new study, something weird going on with their brains. Published in the journal Neuroscience, new research out of Spain's University of Zaragoza found, upon scanning the brains of 100 young adults, that those who hold authoritarian beliefs had major differences in social reasoning and emotional regulation from subjects whose politics hewed more to the center. The University of Zaragoza team recruited 100 young Spaniards — 63 women and 37 men, all of whom had no history of psychiatric disorders — between the ages of 18 and […]" date: "2025-04-27" modified: "2025-04-27" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/authoritarian-brain-scans" categories: - "Brain" - "Health & Medicine" tags: - "authoritarianism" - "brain scans" - "MRI" - "neuroscience" --- # Scientists Scanned the Brains of Authoritarians and Found Something Weird ![People who support authoritarianism have, according to a new study, something weird going on with their brains.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* People who support authoritarianism on either side of the political divide have, according to a new study, something weird going on with their brains. Published [in the journal *Neuroscience*](), new research out of Spain's University of Zaragoza found, upon scanning the brains of 100 young adults, that those who hold authoritarian beliefs had major differences in brain areas associated with social reasoning and emotional regulation from subjects whose politics hewed more to the center. The University of Zaragoza team recruited 100 young Spaniards — 63 women and 37 men, none of whom had any history of psychiatric disorders — between the ages of 18 and 30. Along with having their brains scanned via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the participants were asked questions that help identify both right-wing and left-wing authoritarianism and measure how anxious, impulsive, and emotional they were. As the researchers defined them, right-wing authoritarians are people who ascribe to conservative ideologies and so-called "traditional values" who advocate for "punitive measures for social control," while left-wing authoritarians are interested in "violently overthrow\[ing\] and \[penalizing\] the current structures of authority and power in society." Though participants whose beliefs align more with authoritarianism on either side of the aisle differed significantly from their less-authoritarian peers, there were also some stark differences between the brain scans of left-wing and right-wing authoritarians in the study. In an [interview with *PsyPost*](), lead study author Jesús Adrián-Ventura said that he and his team found that right-wing authoritarianism was associated with lower grey matter volume in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex — a "region involved in understanding others' thoughts and perspectives," as the assistant Zaragoza psychology professor put it. The left-wing authoritarians of the bunch — we don't know exactly how many, as the results weren't broken down in the paper — had less cortical (or outer brain layer) thickness in the right anterior insula, which is "associated with emotional empathy and behavioral inhibition." Cortical thickness in that brain region has been the subject of ample research, from a 2005 study that found [people who meditate regularly]() have greater thickness in the right anterior insula to a 2018 study that linked it to [greater moral disgust](). The author, who is also part of an [interdisciplinary research group called ]()[PseudoLab]() that studies political extremism, added that the psychological questionnaires subjects completed also suggested that "both left-wing and right-wing authoritarians act impulsively in emotionally negative situations, while the former tend to be more anxious." As the paper notes, this is likely the first study of its kind to look into differences between right- and left-wing authoritarianism rather than just grouping them all together. Still, it's a fascinating look into the brains of people who hold extremist beliefs — especially as their ilk [seize power worldwide](). **More on authoritarianism:** [*Chinese People Keep Comparing Trump's Authoritarianism to Mao and Xi Jinping*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()