Clara Pretus, neurologist: 'There are evil agents who are profiting by generating this nervousness' [View all]
https://english.elpais.com/science-tech/2024-11-24/clara-pretus-neurologist-there-are-evil-agents-who-are-profiting-by-generating-this-nervousness.html
Clara Pretus, neurologist: There are evil agents who are profiting by generating this nervousness
The neuroscientist studies how people fall into extremism and how the brain processes misinformation in polarized situations
JAVIER SALAS
NOV 23, 2024 - 23:05 EST
Few people know the minds of extremists like the neuroscientist Clara Pretus, 36, because she has literally looked inside them. In her most celebrated work, the researchers scanned the brains of young people who wanted to participate in violent jihadist acts to understand the personal and social mechanisms that activated this interest.
In a more recent work, her team studied the grey matter of voters of Spains far-right Vox party to understand why they spread lies on issues important to them, such as immigration. The research revealed that when these topics were discussed, regions of the participants social brain were activated. These are not the usual decision-making areas but those that help infer the thoughts of others, explains Pretus from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. In other words, they share false information with the groups approval and cohesion in mind.
Pretus who is an advisor to the United Nations Office on Terrorism and director of the Social Brain Lab warns that a tragedy like the flash flooding in the Spanish region of Valencia create fertile ground for disinformation to spread. When you are in danger, it is better for you to believe any information that can save you or that can help you, she says.
However, she also criticizes the way certain political actors exploit such crises for their own advantage. Pretus notes that in times of anxiety and danger, opportunists often use emotionally charged language to hack our nervous system. We must take this into account, because there will be more and more emergencies of this type, very conducive to disinformation and political gain, says Pretus.
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