Brain mechanism prevents differing opinions

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Brain May Be Wired for Social Conformity

Study says 'error-monitoring' signals keep us from being too different from others

(HealthDay News) -- Your brain may be wired to go along with popular opinion in social situations, a new study suggests.

Scans done with functional magnetic resonance imaging showed that people whose opinion differed with that of a group of people experienced a neuronal response in the brain's rostral cingulate zone (RCZ) and nucleus accumbens (NAC) -- areas that seem to help monitor behavioral outcomes and anticipate and process rewards as well as social learning, respectively.

This signal appears to tell the brain a "prediction error" has occurred, which seems to cause an adjustment in the long-term to an individual's own opinion. The magnitude of the signal appears to correlate with differences in conforming behavior across subjects, the study said.

The findings were published in the Jan. 15 issue of Neuron.

"The present study explains why we often automatically adjust our opinion in line with the majority opinion," study author Vasily Klucharev, from the F.C. Donders Center for Cognitive Neuroimaging in the Netherlands, said in a news release issued by the journal's publisher. "Our results also show that social conformity is based on mechanisms that comply with reinforcement learning and is reinforced by the neural error-monitoring activity which signals what is probably the most fundamental social mistake -- that of being too different from others."

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The Lundbeck Institute has more about the functions of different areas of the brain.-- Kevin McKeever

SOURCE: Cell Press, news release, Jan. 14, 2009
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This is from another forum; no link was provided. Do autistics lack this brain pathway, meaning that we are more likely to see the reality of a situation? Is that why NTs want to destroy us?

NT's aren't out to destroy people with AS. It's just that sometimes they don't understand us and likewise, we don't always understand them.

Regarding the study, in my case at least, I tend to limit the amount of social interaction I have with other people. Spending too much time with anyone will eventually make me anxious. If it's a group of people it happens quickly. Even faster if I don't know them well. Add to that the fact that I'm not always aware of which opinions/actions of mine would be considered non-conforming. The result is that my brain might not receive the "prediction error" signal as frequently as a more socially adept person.

We're probably as much a product of our environment as the next person, but our "environment" may include more of an echo chamber reinforcing our own thoughts.

Path-ological topic

I avoid the socio/psycho-path as much as possible--the road less travelled may be the best way to go.

1984.

That is all.

"Brain May Be Wired for Social Conformity"

Wots the lead guitarist of Queen got to do with this?

dyslexia rules k.o.

I thinks it's more like "brain mechanism of NTs prevents differing opinions".

If NTs have free will, why wouldn't Aspies have it also? Why wouldn't every mother's son have free will?

I disagree with all the opinions expressed in the above posts.