Here is a fascinating article in The L.A. Times, of all places.

It's about brain-imaging, and the emotional responses triggered by everything from products to celebrities to politicians. Obviously, such technology could be very powerful if harnessed properly by marketers or aspiring presidents, for that matter.

Here's one interesting tidbit:

Shown campaign advertising that touched on the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Republicans and Democrats again had different responses.

"The Democrats had a big response in the amygdala — the anxiety threat detector and bell-ringer in the brain," said UCLA psychiatrist Joshua Freedman, who helped organize the experiment. "Republicans did not have a statistically significant response to that, for whatever reason."

You can come up with your own explanation for this one.