This is Your Brain on Politics (Farah Guest Post)

This morning's New York Times Op Ed page presents us with dazzling pictures, from the lab of Marco Iacoboni, of the brains of swing voters as they react to photos and videos of the leading presidential candidates. Accompanying these pictures are interpretations of the patterns of brain activation offered by Iacoboni and his collaborators. Mitt Romney evokes anxiety – this is deduced from amygdala activation. John Edwards' detractors feel disgust toward him – this is apparent in the insula of these subjects.