Brain of Thrones: A brains-eye view of your favourite Game of Throne Characters

Super fans across the globe have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new series of “A Game of Thrones” (adapted from the George RR Martin novels of the same name). The focus of the story is on a civil war in which several noble houses are battling over who should rule the kingdom. Whilst the premise might sound relatively simple to those who’re unfamiliar with the show, in fact it is littered with a wealth of complicated and well-developed characters. The personas range from the stoic and loyal Eddard Stark, through to the manipulative and villainous Joffrey Baratheon, and the witty and intelligent Tyrion Lannister. These multi-dimensional characters can be extreme and vastly different, meaning that their brains may provide a wealth of interesting information about personality development. What drives a person to be sadistic and evil like Joffrey? Why is Eddard devoted almost to the point of naivety? Why is Arya Stark so fiercely independent? This article aims to explore the role of neuroscience in shaping the way in which these characters have developed and how they interact with one another.

House Stark

Eddard Stark
Eddard, fondly referred to as Ned, is the head of House Stark and serves as the Warden of the North from his seat at Winterfell. He is a lifelong friend of Robert Baratheon, ruler of the seven kingdoms, and so obligingly follows Robert’s orders to move to King’s landing and serve him as the King’s Hand. Ned is a devoted husband and father, and a strikingly loyal friend. He has little regard for his own well-being, but will do almost anything to protect the people he loves. For example Ned falsely admits to treason against Joffrey because of his own desires to seize the throne in order to protect his daughters from harm. Ned is an altruistic person, and it is possible that there are underlying differences in his brain structure which result in him acting this way.

Researchers from Georgetown recently studied the brains of kidney donors (altruists) and non-organ donors (control) whilst viewing a range of emotional expressions [1]. Altruists displayed greater neural activity in the right amygdala (a brain region associated with emotion) whilst viewing fearful expressions compared to controls; and further the volume of the right amygdala was larger in altruists. Altruists were also seen to identify expressions of fear quicker than control subjects. Altruists showed clear structural and functional brain differences which made them more sensitive to other people’s distress. Ned may have this increased volume and activity in his right amygdala when interacting with other people, which may explain his tendencies toward loyalty, devotion and protection.

Arya Stark
Arya is the younger daughter of Eddard Stark. She is extremely headstrong and independent, resenting traditional female pursuits and typically preferring to engage in sword-fighting and training her direwolf. Arya is in total contrast to her sister Sansa who is regarded as feminine and cooperative. Arya’s preferences for such typically male-oriented recreations lead to the regular mistaking of her as a boy. She eventually uses this misconception to her advantage in order to escape King’s Landing disguised as ‘Arry, an orphan boy. It is possible that Arya’s tomboy nature can actually be explained by brain differences which developed as a result of higher than normal levels of testosterone present in the womb when her mother Catelyn was pregnant.

Researchers in Washington measured pregnant women’s levels of testosterone and later evaluated the behaviour of their children at age 3.5 [2]. The greater the maternal testosterone level was, then the more likely the girls were to engage in “masculine-typical” gender-role behaviour. As the pregnancy hormones influenced basic processes of brain development in the womb, they were also able to exert permanent influences on later behaviour. These findings have also been replicated in rats and rhesus monkeys who showed male-typical play behaviour as juveniles when exposed to increased testosterone levels when in the womb. It seems likely that Arya’s developing brain was exposed to high levels of testosterone, meaning she prefers wielding her sword ‘needle’ to knitting with Sansa.

House Lannister

Tyrion Lannister
Tyrion is the youngest son of Lord Tywin Lannister and was born a dwarf. To compensate for his small stature and the prejudice he faces Tyrion regularly employs his wit and intellect. An example of Tyrion engaging his wit is during the Battle of Blackwater in which plays an essential role in the defeat of Stannis Baratheon’s forces because of his well-thought out strategies. It is his idea to utilise the power of fire that helps to wipe out a large proportion of the opposition, although he is seldom thanked for his services. It is possible that Tyrion’s intelligence is not only a result of his environment and attempts to curb prejudice, but also because of his brain.

Human intelligence is not confined to a single area of the brain, but is the result of several brain areas working together [3]. A large review of 37 brain imaging studies suggests intelligence is not a result of brain size, but rather how efficiently information travels through the brain. The Parieto-Frontal Integration Theory (P-FIT) suggests that intelligence levels are based on how efficiently the brain areas clustered within the frontal and parietal lobes communicate with one another. Unsurprisingly some of these areas are related to attention, memory and language skills. It seems that whilst Tyrion may be small, his brain is a very efficient and communicative machine.

Joffrey Baratheon 
Joffrey claims the Iron Throne to rule over the Seven Kingdoms after his legal father King Robert Baratheon dies. Unbeknownst to some of the characters he is actually the bastard son of Cersei and Jamie Lannister, the product of an incestuous relationship between the pair. Joffrey is known for being sadistic and manipulative, and he particularly delights in tormenting Sansa Stark during their betrothal. A particularly striking example of his torturing of Sansa is when he refuses to show mercy to her father Ned after his betrayal, and orders his beheading, before proceeding to parade the severed head in front of a distressed Sansa. It is possible that Joffrey’s lack of empathy towards the feelings of others actually has a neural basis.

A recent study has shown that when those with psychopathic tendencies are shown images which typically evoke empathy there are weaker connections between the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and other parts of the brain including the amygdala as compared to individuals with a psychopath diagnosis [4]. The amygdala is associated with emotion, memory and fear; and interactions between the vmPFC and amygdala are thought to underlie emotional regulation. In Joffrey’s case these two brain regions may not be communicating efficiently, meaning he is less likely to show heightened emotions towards others or appropriate social behaviour.

House Targaryen

Daenerys Targaryen
Daenerys is the sole surviving heir of King Aerys II Targaryen, who was exiled from the Iron Throne by Robert Baratheon. As Daenerys is the last Targaryen she intends to claim the Iron Throne as her birth right. She is often referred to as the “Mother of Dragons” as she is raising three young dragons to aid in her quest to return the Targaryens to the throne. Throughout her quest to build an army she regularly shows compassion, mercy and understanding towards those who need her help. Compassion is defined as having an emotional response when perceiving suffering, and then harbouring a genuine desire to help. She is regularly appalled by the mistreatment of slaves which she witnesses on travels. Eventually she makes her way to Slaver’s Bay where she observes thousands of slaves being horribly abused. Daenerys endeavours to break their chains and then asks them to follow her freely. It is likely that Daenerys’ heightened level of compassion actually stems from inherent differences in her brain.

Research has shown that those trained in compassion showed differing brain activations compared to a control group when viewing images of human suffering. The compassionate group had increased activity in their inferior parietal cortex, which is a region involved with empathy and understanding others. They also showed increased activity in their dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the extent to which is communicated with the nucleus accumbens. These brains are heavily involved in emotion regulation and the experience of positive emotions. It appears that Daenerys’ compassion towards others, particularly when viewing them suffering, is a result of such increased brain activity.


It seems that Westeros is full strange and interesting characters with complex and beautiful brains. If only the MRI scanner had been developed in this fantastical and primitive realm…



References:
[1] http://www.georgetown.edu/news/abigail-marsh-brain-altruism-study.html
[2] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/11/021112075626.htm
[3] http://www.livescience.com/1863-theory-intelligence-works.html
[4] http://www.livescience.com/17159-psychopath-brain-abnormalities.html
[5] http://pss.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/05/20/0956797612469537.abstract

Heckles, Dolphins and Quizzes - The NeuroGirls venture into community schools

I’ll admit it, of all the things I thought might happen during my illustrious and highly glamorous career as a neuroscience PhD student, being heckled by a thirteen year old shouting “GABA”, was not on my list.

It all began when bright eyed and bushy tailed in my first year, I turned to the other girls in my office. “Hey! They want speakers for schools, maybe we should do a brain talk together?” The other girls agreed and the NeuroGirls were born.

Our first talk that first year was dreadful in a feeling-sick, scared-of-thousands-of-tiny-possibly-mean-children kind of way. We narrowly escaped the teachers ditching us with the children and skiving off for a cup of tea and a natter with the librarian! Although we’d had some training and were covered by STEM ambassador insurance, we explained that as we were not trained teachers we therefore should not be left alone with the many many (ok probably about 30) kiddies… 

Credit: Robert Harding Picture Library / SuperStock 

That first moment before you launch into your talk is scary no matter what you are speaking about and who you are speaking to. We had a sea of bright young faces, mostly looking interested and ready to be entertained! I gulped, wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans and launched forth about the mysteries of the wonderful cerebellum and why exactly it enabled David Beckham to score all his goals and allowed dolphins to jump through hoops of burning fire.

The kiddies were entranced. Ok, the squirrel video might have helped. But having enthusiasm for your subject helps bucket loads too. This year, we set ourselves a tougher goal. Seven talks instead of four. Year 9-11s instead of lovely year 7s. Gulp.

So, we decided to provide a little incentive for our audience. We made a quiz! A lovely brain quiz with, and this is important to those teenage blighters, prizes. We each talked for about 10 minutes, then did 5 questions on what we’d spoken about. It worked like a charm, even the sulkiest of adolencents perked up! However, one of my questions was “Name a neurotransmitter”. And so, back to the heckling! And, dear reader, it didn’t just happen the once. I was heckled with GABA on multiple occasions. After the first time, I could hear the other two girls cracking up behind me. Charming…

I must say though, the heckling hasn’t put me off the talks at all. All three of us are keener than ever to go back again next year. Maybe we’ll do nine schools this year, who knows?? Because engaging with kids, telling them about what you do and why you love it  is one of the favourite parts of my job. And if I help even one of those students            NeuroGirls at Birley Community College          with a decision about what to study in the future, it’s worth it. 

Being positive female role models in science doesn’t hurt either. 

End of the first PhD year - should I switch careers to Lion Taming?

I’m picking another career. Surely it’s not too late to change? I’ll just do something low key and not stressful, like lion taming or mountain climbing. SURELY anything must be better than this???!!

These thoughts were running through my head like a roller coaster train last week. AGAIN. If you've studied for a PhD and are not hugely organised AND overly smart AND very lucky and therefore very successful, they’ll probably be fairly familiar to you. Last week saw two VERY long days in the lab, gathering data that turned out to not be very useful. Gathering data for me involves some pretty intricate micro surgery that it has taken me a rather long time to get my head around. I remember the first time I attempted to cannulate. The post-doc training me was kind, helpful and gave a clear demonstration of how to slide the tube into the vessel. It took all of 2 minutes for him. When, two hours later, with shaking hands and a sweaty brow, I likened the chance of me getting the cannula in, to Narnia really existing out the back of the lab cupboard, he gently took the cannula and just finished the job himself. I’m never going to get this, I thought miserably. Five months on from that, I face different challenges. Today, I thought about throttling my computer when my code failed to produce the desired result, yet again, despite no errors or warnings appearing on the screen. To be perfectly honest, there are days when I wonder if I’ll ever discover anything of any use to anyone during the course of my PhD.

I know I'm not alone. A quick Google search reveals that there's actually a site entitled 'I did a PhD and did NOT go mad', a Facebook group called 'PhD stress' where the header says "How's my research going? F*** you, that's how', numerous websites offering ways to manage PhD stress and of course, chats to my lovely, and importantly, honest, fellow PhD sufferers. It seems to be fairly par for the course to be feeling this way. I can also, although I prefer not to, recall several friends with PhDs (who made their minds up career wise rather sooner than I did) who advised me not to do a PhD, due to the severe and debilitating stress that came with one. 

But I read up on other jobs to see if perhaps the rational idea of switching career yet again at almost thirty could be the right one and I just can’t seem to get excited about any of them. None of them offer the opportunity to roll five career paths into one. To spend my days, teaching, writing, learning new incredible skills, to attempt to pick apart the brain, the most fascinating organ I have ever come across. To program, to present and to discuss ideas with some clever and interesting colleagues. Whilst I remember the first time I ever tried and failed to cannulate with abject misery, I also remember the first time I succeeded as well. The rush of elation that comes when your body achieves something you thought impossible is outstanding. I remember the feeling of pride I felt when I first saw my name on an academic poster and when I gave my first talk to a group of my peers at a conference. And funnily enough, despite the fact that I have no guarantees on where my research is headed, I’m gaining so much just from the journey that most of the time I feel like this is the best job in the world.

PS If I'm going to believe everything a Google search tells me, I have to concede that actually, a PhD may not be the best job in the world, and in fact, caretaker of the island below, is.

The Modern Day Caveman; #moderndayproblems

By NeuroGirl Kira Shaw

I hold a personal fascination with evolution and have often found myself wondering “how can the modern man be related back to our ancestral forefathers?” Man has walked the earth for over 30,000 years. During this period, time has ensured many characteristics have been passed forward onto modern man. In this context I opted to select new-world problems and relate them back to life-or-death survival skills which have been honed and refined across our evolutionary development. The experiences of our pre-historic relatives have shaped the way the “modern caveman” reacts in 21^st century situations, including challenges such as crossing busy roads, navigating the supermarket and attracting sexual partners.

Crossing a busy road can be related to dodging and out-witting potential predators stalking the savannah. Cars, vans and buses can out-muscle and out-run us, much like a hungry sabre-toothed tiger hunting for food. Humans can use their advanced visual cortex and frontal lobes to spot oncoming vehicles and formulate a plan to avoid a collision. Whilst previous predatory encounters have aided in the development of our visual and planning systems, being in close proximity with large vehicles rarely elicits the fight/flight response in contemporary Homo sapiens. An example of a present day problem that does cause a rush of adrenaline to kick-in is public speaking. Your ‘average Joe’ has few ravenous predators eyeing up his limbs, but instead fears the ridicule of a peer or competitor following public humiliation. Everyone has experienced those butterflies in their stomach as they step up in front of the judging eyes; the shaky hands as they try to hold their notes steady, and the lump in their throat as they utter their first sentence. Public speaking presents no danger to our immediate survival, yet our survival systems go into overdrive. In environments where humans can flourish, social standing grows increasingly important, meaning our most basic drives and instincts can be applied to ensuring the protection of our popularity, rather than the protection of our life.  

Not only have our survival priorities changed over time, but our modern day mating ground has also been transformed. The nightclub is an ideal venue for single individuals to gather and compete.  Sexual prowess is demonstrated via rhythmic and sensual dance moves, and societal status and worth can be exaggerated with a rather large bar tab. Now let’s compare the successful singletons in the nightclub to our sexually successful forefathers. Our ancestors valued male breadwinners who could hunt and provide, and women who could gather berries and bear strong children. In keeping with these traditions females may demonstrate their sexual worth by wearing tight clothes that highlight their youthful and ample assets. Rather than the old practice of clubbing the female over the head, the male flirting tactic has evolved overtime with the offering of a Jägerbomb (though arguably, the two tactics have the same after-effect of an aching head in the morning!). The acceptance of this gift of a drink is a positive sign, and hence the modern day couple is born. 

Once things have become more serious between our modern couple, one particular challenge they will face when feeding the family is where the next meal might come from. Though in modern times, this involves navigating the supermarket shelves, as opposed to our ancestors’ long journey to find a water source. The water source is entwined with an abundance of food and amenities conveniently situated in one location. This wealth of resources must be processed carefully, and the efficient Homo sapien will take only what they need and what they can carry. Upon entering Tesco, most of you will find yourselves heading directly to your usual purchases, filling the trolley with foods you know won’t go to waste. Your advanced frontal lobes will be of use to you again as they aid you with decision-making and forward planning: “I won’t need as much salad this week as we’re eating out on Tuesday”. Once our couple do reach the salad aisle those gathering skills, which have passed down through the generations, will prove very useful. The efficient shopper is able to locate the greenest spinach leaves and the lesser bruised banana skins. Our complex and perfect eye, baffling to even Charles Darwin himself, is drawn to the brightest and clearest colours, trained to pick out only the fruit and vegetables which fall into this category.

Whilst it may be difficult to imagine how our ancestors’ way of life has anything to do with modern day survival, their survival pressures and the resultant brain development is entwined in everything we do! Our evolutionary history has allowed us to overcome the challenges faced in night clubs, busy roads and supermarkets. So next time you go to the shop and pick up that loaf of bread, be sure to thank your great-great-great-(recurring) grandparents.  

Heels, Naps and Eek Moments - BNA 2013!

NeuroGirl Kira writes on our first time experience of a conference:

This week the NeuroGirls attended their very first Neuroscience conference hosted in London, UK –the BNA 2013. We thought it may be interesting to dissect our thoughts and experiences of a conference as first-timers. The conference days were packed full of appealing lectures and posters, with so much to see and do that there was barely a minute to spare. The conference was set across a large space, the Barbican centre being a maze in itself. Organisation was key! We found ourselves armed with detailed itineraries to help keep our focus and direction. The topics covered by the BNA conference spanned across the whole of neuroscience, from astrocytes to autism. There were opportunities to attend relevant talks for your own research area; as well as non-relevant areas which appeal to your own personal interests; and even media-coveted topics (such as the talk on the use of psychedelic drugs in depression by Professor David Nutt as commented on by the BBC).  Set in the middle of the all the talks was also the chance to browse posters with the opportunity to network with the poster’s author and discuss research ideas. Whilst this experience may seem daunting to any academically-young PhD student, all of the authors we met were very friendly, helpful and clear. Although as a whole the conference seemed a bit daunting and overwhelming at first (with so many intelligent scientists and detailed research ideas) the overall experience was very valuable and the people very welcoming! 

NeuroGirl Rebecca thinks the best part of the BNA was…  the academic posters:

The sights! The sounds! The colours! And that was just one particularly interesting delegate presenting a poster with flaming red hair and amazing spike heels. The BNA poster sessions were by far my favourite part of the conference. The symposiums were interesting and informative, but quite often, the quality and depth varied vastly from session to session, leaving me floundering in one quarter of a 4-part session and tapping my nails in boredom in the next. The academic posters on the other hand, gave me, as a naïve and interested first year, the chance to peer into a wide range of topics, explained to me by some very helpful presenters. My research interests are in thalamocortical spindles and neurovascular coupling and I was lucky enough to also find these well represented at the conference. What impressed me the most however, was how enthusiastic everybody was to talk to me. I spoke with a young and nervous medic, only in his fifth year, who charmingly explained what slow oscillations had to do with declarative memory and naps – I’m now most thoroughly in favour of a mid-afternoon nap, apparently it IS long enough to see a positive correlation with memory performance, something I badly need!  I also spoke with lovely post-docs, seemingly stern group heads and many excellent PhD students all of whom were happy to explain their work and answer all questions that popped irreverently into my head. I would encourage anyone, especially PhD students to go along to the poster sessions, they are absolutely fab for improving your social and networking skills, but also for gaining additional ideas about your own research. I left each session with my head buzzing with new ideas, often ones that had been inspired by a quick chat with someone with a poster seemingly irrelevant to my own work. You never know what you will gain until you step up to that sea of ideas and plunge in!

NeuroGirl Priya gives her take on the BNA experience:

The BNA conference this year held at the Barbican saw the congregation of many neuroscience researchers within the UK and abroad get together and present months of hard work, to the wider neuroscience research community. Having been the first scientific conference I have attended within my PhD, I was very excited to be attending and to be honest had no expectations of how this conference was to be. I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived at the Barbican as it was a very big venue and was completely packed with people - it was really nice to see that the neuroscience community is a big and an inclusive one. My itinerary was jam packed with all the important related lectures and posters I had previously highlighted. Conferences like these offer a great opportunity to be able to talk to a range of people, all of whom I spoke to were so evidently passionate about their research it truly was motivating for a first year to witness this and speaking to authors in person definitely helps in getting a greater understanding of the research carried out. In addition, the variety of lectures and talks meant that I could pick and chose the ones I found most interesting. Similar to the posters, I found going to the talks a good experience and opportunity to understand my field of research better and also think about when I would have to give presentations in the future (eek!).

The BNA was jam packed with things to do and this is congratulatory for all the organisers as they were able to simultaneously carry out poster sessions, lectures, workshops, company stalls as well as have interactive stalls for the general public to be apart of all at the same time and all with minimal glitches. It was evident that months of planning and organising took place prior and with the number of volunteers assisting, it was really nice to see this kind of involvement and importance given to conferences, this definitely makes me feel proud to be a part of the scientific community and the British Neuroscience Association. 

On the flip side, and I think this must be the case for most conferences due to the sheer amount of researchers presenting, it was evident that it became hard to fit everyone in to the timetable and this meant having many activities overlap so there were times were I had to miss out on some things. In addition, this also meant some talks started really early in the day and some talks went on until 8pm. This element of the conference definitely left me drained by the end of the day. A key thing to remember about conferences is that there is usually a plethora of information and sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming, in my case I found it hard to remember all the new information I was presented with throughout the day as well as taking part in all the networking events added on to the end of each day as well.

The BNA was a great first conference for the Neurogirls as we were able to find and interact with researchers carrying out similar research topics throughout the UK, proving to be an invaluable experience. We also feel that through this conference we have been able to understand and appreciate the research we carry out in the wider context and therefore apply this to our future work. We greatly look forward to attending the next BNA  conference, with more energy and having the privilege to attend similarly interesting talks again, so watch this space neuroscience! 

Exercise and the Brain: Our Sporting Mission

Everyone knows that physical exercise benefits the body. After all, that honed 6-pack doesn’t come from sitting on the couch munching crisps. However, fewer people are aware that regular physical exercise can have serious benefits for the brain!

There is a legion of scientific evidence to support the idea that strenuous activity leads to the release of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). The release of BDNF is known to promote healthy nerve cells, which are essential for mental performance, memory and recall. Physical exercise has also been shown to surpass mental exercise when combatting brain shrinkage (which occurs with memory problems and even in Alzheimer’s disease).

Considering all of these profound benefits for physical exercise on the brain the Sheffield NeuroGirls made it their mission to promote a healthier lifestyle in aid of neuroscience! We have vowed to take on new (and even dangerous) sporting activities at our own peril, and then relate our performance to changes which may be happening in our brain.

Our first mission is to tackle the world of rollerblading! Our first step was to fish-out some decent rollerblades on eBay and then take them out for a spin. The Sheffield NeuroGirls have currently been out for one (unstable) rollerblading session. We plan to track our progress with videos and photos – before mapping our improvements (hopefully) and relating these changes to the development of balance in the cerebellum; and skill acquisition in the motor cortex. Here’s hoping that all our practice means our frontal cortices can get a break when the skill eventually becomes automated.

So watch this space… Videos will be posted soon! (We just might have a particularly funny video of NeuroGirl Priya falling over in her rollerblades).

America votes Obama “fit” for the job

When voting a leader into office what is it you look for in a candidate? It is likely that you want someone with similar ideals to yourself, they should possibly be an assertive talker, and a strong leader too. These and many other factors play important roles in your decision-making but one may surprise you: “which candidate is the most attractive”?

Researchers at the University of Exeter have highlighted that attractiveness could provide an advantage for candidates during a close race for a hotly contested seat. Most recently this research may be applied to the US presidential election. BBC News’ average of national opinion polls prior to the final vote indicated a tight race, with Obama receiving 49% to Romney’s 48%. With such a close competition, small individual factors could give certain candidates the edge. Dr Caitlin Milazzo is in the process of publishing a paper which demonstrates that for hotly contested constituencies the more attractive candidates wins almost 75% of the time. Dr Milazzo tested this work on 153 US participants who were shown 75 pairs of British 2010 general election contestants, and asked to vote which of the pair was the most attractive. The results of these ratings were later matched up with the results from the actual election, and a correlation was found between attractiveness and victory (particularly in the marginal seats). 

With Obama, arguably the more attractive candidate, eventually winning the 2012 US Presidential election, it may prove interesting to speculate why attractiveness might have played a role. The general American public could regard Obama as the more attractive candidate as not only is he more youthful, but he also has a certain “cool factor” - everyone remembers the “he’s a jackass” Kanye West comment, or the swift swatting of a fly mid-interview.

So Obama may be the candidate deemed as the most attractive… but how does this affect a person’s vote? It is possible that when a person is deemed the more attractive then this may activate the reward centres of the brain. Dr Joel Winston and colleagues from UCL have demonstrated that the amygdala and regions of the frontal cortex were activated when volunteers processed faces rated as attractive. The amygdala and frontal cortex regions are linked with the processing of emotions and rewards, and so a person may associate the attractive face with such positive feelings. It seems that facial beauty is not only in the eye of the beholder, but also the brain!

There is further demonstrable evidence of the more attractive candidate winning in prior big elections. Obama beat John McCain, Tony Blair beat John Major, and Gordon Brown lost his seat to a younger and fresher (albeit with the help of Photoshop on his campaign posters) David Cameron. Perhaps the typical dusty old man look previously synonymous with political leaders is a thing of the past. In a world were celebrities and attractive individuals are idolised, politics may also see a trend which favours the younger and ‘fitter’ candidates.