Now it’s the letter W that puts liberals on top

Grumpy Editor couldn’t help but chuckle over the findings of a psychologist, reported in the Chicago Tribune yesterday and picked up by some papers around the nation, that brains of liberals and conservatives might (repeat: might) work differently.

One newspaper found the story so inspiring that it heralded it with a six-column headline across the top of “nation and world report” page.

The study by David Amodio, assistant professor of psychology, New York University, claims “a specific region of the brain is more sensitive in people who consider themselves liberals than in self-declared conservatives,” writes Tribune staffer Judy Peres.

The professor based his efforts on testing 43 college students ranging from “very liberal” to “very conservative.”

They were instructed to press a button each time a computer flashed the M letter but not when a W was displayed.  M appeared four times more frequently than W.

The findings:  Liberals had more brain activity and made fewer mistakes than conservatives when they viewed a W.

Nothing was mentioned on what might happen in the brain when a liberal switches to a conservative, or vice versa, as sometimes happens these days.

But that paves the way for another study.