When people agree about the subject matter, their brains work in synchrony. When there is a disagreement, however, individuals’ brains are in discord and there are many more areas engaged, taking more energy.

How much mind’s energy is taken by arguments?

If you ever had an argument and felt depleted afterwards, you are not alone. And there is a scientific explanation of that.

Not only disagreements cause our body to release cortisol, the stress hormone that inhibits many vital functions, but also there is much more neurological real estate used in the process, a recent research discovered.

Agreeing vs. disagreeing

For the study, researchers interviewed 38 people aged 18+ and asked them about certain divisive topics such as same sex marriage or legalization of marijuana. Then they matched pairs based on their responses.

Scientists used the new method of recording the neurological activity (functional near-infrared spectroscopy) in order to see which areas inside people’s heads were engaged while they were talking.

• When people were of the same view, a small portion of their brains was engaged: The one, responsible for the sensory experiences such as visual. It’s likely people were looking for cues from the person they were conversing with. The neurological signals were in harmony. This area of the brain is linked to social behaviour.
• When people disagreed, a much larger areas inside their heads were active, but there was less activity in the “social” part. At the same time, the activity in frontal lobes was higher, which is the part responsible for executive (cognitive) functions. The neural coupling was disconnected. The people were in discord not only verbally but also neurologically.

Joy Hirsch, a professor of Psychiatry at Yale and a senior author of this study, pointed out that our entire brain is a social processing network and noted, “It takes a lot more brain real estate to disagree than to agree.”

Hirsch compared two people’s neurology with a symphony orchestra where different musicians play dissimilar music, which is what happens when they disagree. However, when they agree about something, the brains work like “a musical duet”.

So, the next time you face an argument with someone, maybe it’s best agree to disagree and move on to something you both are in harmony about?

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