Mr. Ed
Be what you is not what you what you ain’t
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From what I know and what I know is subject to change...god is believed to be real to some people and disbelieved to be real by others. religion seems to be a mechanism of worship, instilling methods, rituals and techniques for worshipping, honoring and celebrating god.
Written by Ana Sandoiu on July 20, 2018 — Fact checked by Jasmin Collier
Whether or not a divine power truly does exist might be a matter of opinion, but the neurophysiological effects of religious belief are scientific facts that can be accurately measured. Here, we take a look at some of these effects, as shown by the latest research.
The effects of prayer on a person’s well-being are well-documented.
Whether you are a staunch atheist, a reserved agnostic, or a devout believer, you are equally likely to find the effects of religion on human brains astonishing.
Religious belief can increase our lifespan and help us better cope with disease.
And, research in the field of “neurotheology” — or the neuroscience of theological belief — has made some surprising discoveries that are bound to change how we think about spirituality.
For instance, some scientists suggest that religious experience activates the same brain circuits as sex and drugs.
Other research has suggested that damage to a certain brain region can make you feel as though someone’s in the room when nobody’s there. Such findings have intriguing implications for how religion affects health, and vice-versa.
Also, do the neurobiological underpinnings of religious experience mean that it could be artificially recreated? If a divine experience proves to be biologically predetermined, does having the right scientific information enable us to create the illusion of a god?
Below, we take a look at some of these questions. While researchers may not have all the answers yet, pieces of the puzzle are coming together to form a scientific picture of divinity that is shaping up to be quite different from those we find in the holy books.
The front part of the brain (shown here in red) is more active during meditation. Image credit: Dr. Andrew Newberg.
Namely, different religions activate brain regions differently.
The researcher, who literally “wrote the book” on neurotheology, draws from his numerous studies to show that both meditating Buddhists and praying Catholic nuns, for instance, have increased activity in the frontal lobes of the brain.
These areas are linkedTrusted Source with increased focus and attention, planning skills, the ability to project into the future, and the ability to construct complex arguments.
Also, both prayer and meditation correlate with a decreased activity in the parietal lobes, which are responsible for processing temporal and spatial orientation.
Nuns, however — who pray using words rather than relying on visualization techniques used in meditation — show increased activity in the language-processing brain areas of the subparietal lobes.
But, other religious practices can have the opposite effect on the same brain areas. For instance, one of the most recent studies co-authored by Dr. Newberg shows that intense Islamic prayer — “which has, as its most fundamental concept, the surrendering of one’s self to God” — reduces the activity in the prefrontal cortex and the frontal lobes connected with it, as well as the activity in the parietal lobes.
The prefrontal cortexTrusted Source is traditionally thought to be involved in executive control, or willful behavior, as well as decision-making. So, the researchers hypothesize, it would make sense that a practice that centers on relinquishing control would result in decreased activity in this brain area.
A recent study that Medical News Today reported on found that religion activates the same reward-processing brain circuits as sex, drugs, and other addictive activities.
Devoutly religious participants showed increased activity in the brain’s nucleus accumbens. Image credit: Dr. Jeff Anderson.
Researchers led by Dr. Jeff Anderson, Ph.D. — from the University of Utah School of Medicine in Salt Lake City — examined the brains of 19 young Mormons using a functional MRI scanner.
When asked whether, and to what degree, the participants were “feeling the spirit,” those who reported the most intense spiritual feelings displayed increased activity in the bilateral nucleus accumbens, as well as the frontal attentional and ventromedial prefrontal cortical loci.
These pleasure and reward-processing brain areas are also active when we engage in sexual activities, listen to music, gamble, and take drugs. The participants also reported feelings of peace and physical warmth.
“When our study participants were instructed to think about a savior, about being with their families for eternity, about their heavenly rewards, their brains and bodies physically responded,” says first study author Michael Ferguson.
These findings echo those of older studiesTrusted Source, which found that engaging in spiritual practices raises levels of serotonin, which is the “happiness” neurotransmitter, and endorphins.
The latter are euphoria-inducing molecules whose name comes from the phrase “endogenous morphine.” Such neurophysiological effects of religion seem to give the dictum “Religion is the opium of the people” a new level of meaning.
“In the last few years,” says Dr. Anderson, “brain imaging technologies have matured in ways that are letting us approach questions that have been around for millennia.”
Prof. James Giordano, from the Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C., agrees. “We are able to even understand when a person gets into ‘ecstasy mode,'” he says, and to identify specific brain areas that participate in this process.
“When activity in the networks of the superior parietal cortex [which is a region in the upper part of the parietal lobe] or our prefrontal cortex increases or decreases, our bodily boundaries change,” Prof. Giordano explains in an interview for Medium.
Research backs him up. A study of Vietnam veterans shows that those who had been injured in the brain’s dorsolateral prefrontal cortex were more likely to report mystical experiences.
Christianity uses son of god as its focus in worshipping god offering forgiveness and redemption as the way to knowing god. God remains the center of focus "cannot know the father except through the son" paraphrased.
What is reality if not what we feel to be real? God is real to some people and to others who choose not to believe in god, god remains unknown.
What religion does to your brain
Written by Ana Sandoiu on July 20, 2018 — Fact checked by Jasmin Collier
Whether or not a divine power truly does exist might be a matter of opinion, but the neurophysiological effects of religious belief are scientific facts that can be accurately measured. Here, we take a look at some of these effects, as shown by the latest research.
The effects of prayer on a person’s well-being are well-documented.
Whether you are a staunch atheist, a reserved agnostic, or a devout believer, you are equally likely to find the effects of religion on human brains astonishing.
Religious belief can increase our lifespan and help us better cope with disease.
And, research in the field of “neurotheology” — or the neuroscience of theological belief — has made some surprising discoveries that are bound to change how we think about spirituality.
For instance, some scientists suggest that religious experience activates the same brain circuits as sex and drugs.
Other research has suggested that damage to a certain brain region can make you feel as though someone’s in the room when nobody’s there. Such findings have intriguing implications for how religion affects health, and vice-versa.
Also, do the neurobiological underpinnings of religious experience mean that it could be artificially recreated? If a divine experience proves to be biologically predetermined, does having the right scientific information enable us to create the illusion of a god?
Below, we take a look at some of these questions. While researchers may not have all the answers yet, pieces of the puzzle are coming together to form a scientific picture of divinity that is shaping up to be quite different from those we find in the holy books.
Different religions have different effects
Dr. Andrew Newberg, who is a professor of neuroscience and the director of the Research Marcus Institute of Integrative Health at the Thomas Jefferson University and Hospital in Villanova, PA, explains that different religious practices have different effects on one’s brain.The front part of the brain (shown here in red) is more active during meditation. Image credit: Dr. Andrew Newberg.
Namely, different religions activate brain regions differently.
The researcher, who literally “wrote the book” on neurotheology, draws from his numerous studies to show that both meditating Buddhists and praying Catholic nuns, for instance, have increased activity in the frontal lobes of the brain.
These areas are linkedTrusted Source with increased focus and attention, planning skills, the ability to project into the future, and the ability to construct complex arguments.
Also, both prayer and meditation correlate with a decreased activity in the parietal lobes, which are responsible for processing temporal and spatial orientation.
Nuns, however — who pray using words rather than relying on visualization techniques used in meditation — show increased activity in the language-processing brain areas of the subparietal lobes.
But, other religious practices can have the opposite effect on the same brain areas. For instance, one of the most recent studies co-authored by Dr. Newberg shows that intense Islamic prayer — “which has, as its most fundamental concept, the surrendering of one’s self to God” — reduces the activity in the prefrontal cortex and the frontal lobes connected with it, as well as the activity in the parietal lobes.
The prefrontal cortexTrusted Source is traditionally thought to be involved in executive control, or willful behavior, as well as decision-making. So, the researchers hypothesize, it would make sense that a practice that centers on relinquishing control would result in decreased activity in this brain area.
Religion is like ‘sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll’
A recent study that Medical News Today reported on found that religion activates the same reward-processing brain circuits as sex, drugs, and other addictive activities.
Devoutly religious participants showed increased activity in the brain’s nucleus accumbens. Image credit: Dr. Jeff Anderson.
Researchers led by Dr. Jeff Anderson, Ph.D. — from the University of Utah School of Medicine in Salt Lake City — examined the brains of 19 young Mormons using a functional MRI scanner.
When asked whether, and to what degree, the participants were “feeling the spirit,” those who reported the most intense spiritual feelings displayed increased activity in the bilateral nucleus accumbens, as well as the frontal attentional and ventromedial prefrontal cortical loci.
These pleasure and reward-processing brain areas are also active when we engage in sexual activities, listen to music, gamble, and take drugs. The participants also reported feelings of peace and physical warmth.
“When our study participants were instructed to think about a savior, about being with their families for eternity, about their heavenly rewards, their brains and bodies physically responded,” says first study author Michael Ferguson.
These findings echo those of older studiesTrusted Source, which found that engaging in spiritual practices raises levels of serotonin, which is the “happiness” neurotransmitter, and endorphins.
The latter are euphoria-inducing molecules whose name comes from the phrase “endogenous morphine.” Such neurophysiological effects of religion seem to give the dictum “Religion is the opium of the people” a new level of meaning.
Out of body experiences are in your body
Some recent advances in neuroimaging techniques allow us to understand how our brains “create” a spiritual or mystical experience. What causes the feeling that someone else is present in the room, or that we’ve stepped outside of our bodies and into another dimension?“In the last few years,” says Dr. Anderson, “brain imaging technologies have matured in ways that are letting us approach questions that have been around for millennia.”
Prof. James Giordano, from the Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C., agrees. “We are able to even understand when a person gets into ‘ecstasy mode,'” he says, and to identify specific brain areas that participate in this process.
“When activity in the networks of the superior parietal cortex [which is a region in the upper part of the parietal lobe] or our prefrontal cortex increases or decreases, our bodily boundaries change,” Prof. Giordano explains in an interview for Medium.
Research backs him up. A study of Vietnam veterans shows that those who had been injured in the brain’s dorsolateral prefrontal cortex were more likely to report mystical experiences.
Does god exist....is god real? God is as real as you want god to be. faith and belief work together forming a bond in support of a belief. For faith to work one must believe first in order to have faith.
Christianity uses son of god as its focus in worshipping god offering forgiveness and redemption as the way to knowing god. God remains the center of focus "cannot know the father except through the son" paraphrased.
What is reality if not what we feel to be real? God is real to some people and to others who choose not to believe in god, god remains unknown.
