Posted on October 22, 2012 at 7:57am by
Billy Hallowell
Prayer is an essential component in the Judeo-Christian
tradition, as it is in many other faith systems. But — what does the act
of prayer mean for those who engage in it? How does the human brain
react to the practice? Dr. Andrew Newberg, director of research at Myrna
Bring Center for Integrative Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University
and Medical College, has set out to answer these very questions.
Newberg has studied faith and religion for decades, specifically where these tenets intersect with neuroscience. In a recent study, the doctor injected subjects with a harmless radioactive dye. Then, while they engaged in prayer or meditation, he monitored their brain activity to see how the religious act impacted them. According to The Huffington Post, after being injected, the dye goes to the part of the brain where blood flow is strongest (i.e. the most active part of the brain).
In a report that recently aired on Science’s network’s “Through the
Wormhole,” Newberg explained the study and how prayer appears to impact
the human brain. In the clip, a Presbyterian minister was deep in
prayerful worship, as the researcher monitored her to observe the
impact. Interestingly, the scans showed that the frontal lobes and the
language area of the brain experienced noticeably-increased activity.
This is noteworthy for a number of reasons. Consider that many evangelical Christians describe their prayer experience as a personal relationship in which they speak directly with God. Many times, a comparison is made between the faithful’s relationship with the Almighty and friendships that people have with one another. In this sense, God is viewed as a friend who is willing to listen — and to speak back — to those who pray.
This description of prayer is important, seeing as the frontal lobes
and language portions of the brain activate during conversation. As a
result, Newberg believes that the brain reacts during Judeo-Christian
prayer in the same way that it does when someone is talking to a friend,
co-worker, etc.
“To the brain, talking to God is indistinguishable to talking to a person,” narrator Morgan Freeman proclaimed.
Watch Newberg describe his research, below:
“They are really having this kind of experience,” Newberg said of the faithful and prayer. “The experience is, at least, neurotically real.”
Interestingly, though, while atheists and non-believers spend time meditating or contemplating God’s existence, no impact on the brain is observed in the frontal lobe.
Click here to watch video . . .
(H/T: Huffington Post)
Carousel image courtesy of Shutterstock.com.
Newberg has studied faith and religion for decades, specifically where these tenets intersect with neuroscience. In a recent study, the doctor injected subjects with a harmless radioactive dye. Then, while they engaged in prayer or meditation, he monitored their brain activity to see how the religious act impacted them. According to The Huffington Post, after being injected, the dye goes to the part of the brain where blood flow is strongest (i.e. the most active part of the brain).
This is a scan showing the brain before prayer and during intense prayer. (Photo Credit: Science)
This is noteworthy for a number of reasons. Consider that many evangelical Christians describe their prayer experience as a personal relationship in which they speak directly with God. Many times, a comparison is made between the faithful’s relationship with the Almighty and friendships that people have with one another. In this sense, God is viewed as a friend who is willing to listen — and to speak back — to those who pray.
This
is a scan showing an atheist’s brain before and contemplating God.
Notice, there is no change in brain activity in the frontal lobes and
language center. (Photo Credit: Science)
“To the brain, talking to God is indistinguishable to talking to a person,” narrator Morgan Freeman proclaimed.
Watch Newberg describe his research, below:
“They are really having this kind of experience,” Newberg said of the faithful and prayer. “The experience is, at least, neurotically real.”
Interestingly, though, while atheists and non-believers spend time meditating or contemplating God’s existence, no impact on the brain is observed in the frontal lobe.
Click here to watch video . . .
(H/T: Huffington Post)
Carousel image courtesy of Shutterstock.com.
That's interesting to me because I've long been amazed at how spiritually dull of mind and slow of thought atheists are. Even when they claim to have been Christians, before their de-conversion their "faith" was more like a belief in beliefs rather than the experience of a real relationship. As soon as reality challenged those beliefs the response was, God must not exist. It was pretending. It was hypocritical and to their credit, they quit. For me to say that Jesus doesn't exist would be like saying, "I've stopped believing that my wife exists."
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post.
God Bless
I hope to see you There!