The study - in basic terms - investigates this hypothesis by placing subjects into a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) machine and looking at the "activation" of different brain areas as subjects view a randomized series of pictures. The pictures used for this study included neutral scenes and an even share of scenes depicting various kinds of animal and human suffering.
The first main finding of this study is that, compared to Omnivores, Vegans and Vegetarians show higher activation of empathy related brain areas (e.g. Anterior Cingular Cortex and left Inferior Frontal Gyrus) when observing scenes of suffering; whether it be animal or human suffering.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Compassionz! Yay!
From Empathy is What Sets Vegetarians Apart (At Least Neurologically Speaking) in Psychology Today:
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Where would I be without you?
2 comments:
What? What?? Okay, this study kind of pisses me off. Huge, huge, vast generalization.
The actual article isn't uncritical, and apparently the original study isn't lacking in self-criticism.
But I had to post it. Cause it's funny!
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