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motional drive, rather than rational thinking, plays an important role for one’s personal political preferences, a neurologist has said.

Both are controlled by neurons in the brain.

Roslan Yusni Hasan, a neurologist at Mayapada Hospital in South Jakarta, said the body was literally a robot controlled by the brain.

“A human’s identity is formed by their brain,” he told a discussion held by a doctors’ forum called the Association of Doctors for Bhinneka Tunggal Ika in Jakarta on Sunday.

“Political preferences are like preferences for art. When you see a painting, the first thing is you like it and then the second thing is you figure out the reasons why you like it,” Roslan explained.

The preferences depend on the genes in the brains inherited from parents or great-grandparents.

There had been a medical tool invented capable of seeing brain activities, he added.

An opinion piece published by The New York Times in 2007 revealed a study about the connection between political preferences and the brain.

The study showed that 20 respondents, who were tested, activated two parts of the brain — the amygdala and insula that serve as emotional processors — when showed a particular party brand or political candidate.

Echoing Roslan, former student activist and politician Budiman Sudjatmiko said humans as social beings absorbed information from their surroundings, most importantly family.

The situation would eventually determine whether the person becomes a liberal or a conservative in terms of political choice, Budiman added.