Regardless of each individual’s religious beliefs (or lack therein), the effects of religion on the brain are undeniable. In fact, certain religious beliefs are scientific facts that can be accurately measured.
The effects of a prayer on a person’s well-being are well documented. Research in the field of neuroteology (the neuroscience of theological beliefs) has made surprising discoveries that can change the way we understand spirituality from the point of view of science.
- For example.
- Religious beliefs are known to increase life expectancy and help address the disease in a more positive way.
- On the other hand.
- Some scientists suggest that religious experience activates the same brain systems as sex and drugs.
Some effects of religion on the brain can be precisely measured. Neurotheology has made some surprising discoveries in this regard.
The conflict between religion and science has multiple anchors throughout history, from lectures in ancient Greek pantheons to discussions on Internet forums.
According to a study by Professor Jack and his colleagues at the University of L’Aquila, the origin of this clash actually begins with a conflict between two brain networks.
Research revealed that those who saw religion as a compass of life seemed to suppress the brain network used for analytical thinking in order to involve the network in empathetic thinking. Similarly, those who had no connection to religion seemed to suppress empathetic thinking in favor of analytical thinking. Thinking.
‘When there is a question of faith, from an analytical point of view, it may seem absurd,’ the researchers explain, ‘but from what we understand about the brain, the act of faith and belief in supernatural values leave out the criticism/analytical way of thinking and helping us achieve greater social and emotional knowledge. ‘
According to the study, these two networks have difficulty finding the balance between them, as they often operate in opposite directions; however, researchers argue that none of these ways of thinking has a monopoly on answers to the world’s big questions.
Our very nature has allowed us to understand and explore our experiences using both ways of thinking, according to the study authors, understanding the interaction between these two forms of thought could enrich them.
A recent study from the University of Utah reported that religion can activate the same reward systems in the brain as sex, drugs, and other addictive activities.
The study examined how brain networks are activated when a believer has a deeply spiritual experience.
Researchers examined the brains of 19 young Mormons using a functional MRI scanner. When asked if, and to what extent, participants “felt the spirit,” those who reported more intense spiritual feelings showed greater activity in the bilateral accumbens nucleus.
These areas of pleasure and reward are also active when we engage in sexual activity, listen to music, play and use drugs. Participants also reported feelings of peace and physical well-being.
Andrew Newberg, professor of neuroscience and director of the Marcus Institute for Integrative Health Research at Thomas Jefferson University, explains that the effects of religion on the brain are different depending on the religious practice in question.
In other words, different religions stimulate different areas of the brain. For example, according to Newberg, meditating Buddhists and praying Catholic nuns have greater activity in the frontal lobes of the brain.
Other effects of religion on the brain on increased frontal lobe activity may be observed in meditating people.
These areas are related to increased concentration and attention, planning skills, the ability to plan for the future, and the ability to build complex arguments.
In addition, prayer and meditation are associated with reduced activity in the parietal lobes, which are responsible for the treatment of temporal and spatial orientation.
However, nuns, who pray with words rather than rely on the visualization techniques used in meditation, show increased activity in the areas of the brain that process the language of lower parietal lobes.
On the other hand, other religious practices can have the opposite effect on the same areas of the brain. For example, a recent study with Dr. Newberg shows that the intensity of prayer that takes place in Islam (whose central idea is to surrender to God) reduces activity in the prefrontal cortex and frontal lobes related to it, as well as activity in parietal lobes.
Considering that the prefrontal cortex is involved in executive control, intentional behavior, and decision-making, the researchers hypothesized that a practice that focuses on control delegation results in less activity in this area of the brain.
The effects of religion on the brain depend on different religious practices.
A study by Vietnam veterans shows that those who had lesions on the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of the brain were more likely to recount mystical experiences.
As James Giordano explains, these parts of the brain control our sense of identity in relation to other objects in the world, as well as our physical integrity: hence the sensations and perceptions outside the body and the self-perceivedness that many people believe. religion, they report.
In this sense, Giordano says, if beings add to the mystical experience, we can say that there is an exchange in the activity of the left and right temporal lobe network, it should be noted that parietal lobes are areas where Newberg studies have found less brain activity during prayer.