A grey matter? Nature, nurture and the study of forming political leanings

Researchers find minuscule difference in the amygdala - a region of the brain linked to threat perception

Where does our personal politics come from? Does it trace back to our childhood, the views that surround us, the circumstances we are raised in? Is it all about nurture - or does nature have a say through the subtle levers of DNA? And where, in all of this, is the brain?

Scientists have delved seriously into the roots of political belief for the past 50 years, prompted by the rise of sociobiology, the study of the biological basis of behaviour, and enabled by modern tools such as brain scanners and genome sequencers. The field is making headway, but teasing out the biology of behaviour is never straightforward.