l*****a
发帖数: 38403 | 1 Religious Experiences Shrink Part of the Brain
A study links life-changing religious experiences, like being
born
again,
with atrophy in the hippocampus
By Andrew Newberg | May 31, 2011 | 38
The article, “Religious factors and hippocampal atrophy in late life,”
by Amy Owen and colleagues at Duke University represents an important
advance in our growing understanding of the relationship between the
brain and religion. The study, published March 30 in PLoS One, showed
greater atrophy in the hippocampus in individuals who identify with
specific religious groups as well as those with no religious
affiliation. It is a surprising result, given that many prior studies
have shown religion to have potentially beneficial effects on brain
function, anxiety, and depression.
A number of studies have evaluated the acute effects of religious
practices, such as meditation and prayer, on the human brain. A smaller
number of studies have evaluated the longer term effects of religion on
the brain. Such studies, like the present one, have focused on
differences in brain volume or brain function in those people heavily
engaged in meditation or spiritual practices compared to those who are
not. And an even fewer number of studies have explored the longitudinal
effects of doing meditation or spiritual practices by evaluating
subjects at two different time points.
In this study, Owen et al. used MRI to measure the volume of the
hippocampus, a central structure of the limbic system that is involved
in emotion as well as in memory formation. They evaluated the MRIs of
268 men and women aged 58 and over, who were originally recruited for
the NeuroCognitive Outcomes of Depression in the Elderly study, but who
also answered several questions regarding their religious beliefs and
affiliation. The study by Owen et al. is unique in that it focuses
specifically on religious individuals compared to non-religious
individuals. This study also broke down these individuals into those who
are born again or who have had life-changing religious experiences.
The results showed significantly greater hippocampal atrophy in
individuals reporting a life-changing religious experience. In addition,
they found significantly greater hippocampal atrophy among born-again
Protestants, Catholics, and those with no religious affiliation,
compared with Protestants not identifying as born-again.
The authors offer the hypothesis that the greater hippocampal atrophy in
selected religious groups might be related to stress. They argue that
some individuals in the religious minority, or those who struggle with
their beliefs, experience higher levels of stress. This causes a release
of stress hormones that are known to depress the volume of the
hippocampus over time. This might also explain the fact that both non-
religious as well as some religious individuals have smaller hippocampal
volumes.
This is an interesting hypothesis. Many studies have shown positive
effects of religion and spirituality on mental health, but there are
also plenty of examples of negative impacts. There is evidence that
members of religious groups who are persecuted or in the minority might
have markedly greater stress and anxiety as they try to navigate their
own society. Other times, a person might perceive God to be punishing
them and therefore have significant stress in the face of their
religious struggle. Others experience religious struggle because of
conflicting ideas with their religious tradition or their family. Even
very positive, life-changing experiences might be difficult to
incorporate into the individual’s prevailing religious belief system and
this can also lead to stress and anxiety. Perceived religious
transgressions can cause emotional and psychological anguish. This
“religious” and “spiritual pain” can be difficult to distinguish from
pure physical pain. And all of these phenomena can have potentially
negative effects on the brain.
Thus, Owen and his colleagues certainly pose a plausible hypothesis.
They also cite some of the limitations of their findings, such as the
small sample size. More importantly, the causal relationship between
brain findings and religion is difficult to clearly establish. Is it
possible, for example, that those people with smaller hippocampal
volumes are more likely to have specific religious attributes, drawing
the causal arrow in the other direction? Further, it might be that the
factors leading up to the life-changing events are important and not
just the experience itself. Since brain atrophy reflects everything that
happens to a person up to that point, one cannot definitively conclude
that the most intense experience was in fact the thing that resulted in
brain atrophy. So there are many potential factors that could lead to
the reported results. (It is also somewhat problematic that stress
itself did not correlate with hippocampal volumes since this was one of
the potential hypotheses proposed by the authors and thus, appears to
undercut the conclusions.) One might ask whether it is possible that
people who are more religious suffer greater inherent stress, but that
their religion actually helps to protect them somewhat. Religion is
frequently cited as an important coping mechanism for dealing with
stress.
This new study is intriguing and important. It makes us think more about
the complexity of the relationship between religion and the brain. This
field of scholarship, referred to as neurotheology, can greatly advance
our understanding of religion, spirituality, and the brain. Continued
studies of both the acute and chronic effects of religion on the brain
will be highly valuable. For now, we can be certain that religion
affects the brain--we just are not certain how.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)
Andrew Newberg, M.D. is the Director of Research of the Myrna Brind
Center of Integrative Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University in
Philadelphia. He is a Professor of Emergency Medicine and Radiology. He
has also published,
Principles of Neurotheology
(Ashgate) and
How God
Changes Your Brain
(Ballantine).
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pon | c****g
发帖数: 3893 | 2 宗教不需要那么多脑, WS一点没事.
born
with atrophy in the hippocampus
【在 l*****a 的大作中提到】
: Religious Experiences Shrink Part of the Brain
: A study links life-changing religious experiences, like being
: born
: again,
: with atrophy in the hippocampus
: By Andrew Newberg | May 31, 2011 | 38
: The article, “Religious factors and hippocampal atrophy in late life,”
: by Amy Owen and colleagues at Duke University represents an important
: advance in our growing understanding of the relationship between the
: brain and religion. The study, published March 30 in PLoS One, showed
| i*****t
发帖数: 24265 | 3 信仰耶和华是智慧的开端。
born
with atrophy in the hippocampus
【在 l*****a 的大作中提到】
: Religious Experiences Shrink Part of the Brain
: A study links life-changing religious experiences, like being
: born
: again,
: with atrophy in the hippocampus
: By Andrew Newberg | May 31, 2011 | 38
: The article, “Religious factors and hippocampal atrophy in late life,”
: by Amy Owen and colleagues at Duke University represents an important
: advance in our growing understanding of the relationship between the
: brain and religion. The study, published March 30 in PLoS One, showed
| l*****a
发帖数: 38403 | 4 智慧肯定不包括明辨是非
【在 i*****t 的大作中提到】
: 信仰耶和华是智慧的开端。
:
: born
: with atrophy in the hippocampus
| G*M
发帖数: 6042 | 5 大脑萎缩是智慧的开端，这样就比较好理解所长之流了
【在 i*****t 的大作中提到】
: 信仰耶和华是智慧的开端。
:
: born
: with atrophy in the hippocampus
| m*********g
发帖数: 11102 | 6 分不清腿和足是不是典型症状之一？
【在 l*****a 的大作中提到】
: Religious Experiences Shrink Part of the Brain
: A study links life-changing religious experiences, like being
: born
: again,
: with atrophy in the hippocampus
: By Andrew Newberg | May 31, 2011 | 38
: The article, “Religious factors and hippocampal atrophy in late life,”
: by Amy Owen and colleagues at Duke University represents an important
: advance in our growing understanding of the relationship between the
: brain and religion. The study, published March 30 in PLoS One, showed
| c****g
发帖数: 3893 | 7 有道理
born
with atrophy in the hippocampus
【在 l*****a 的大作中提到】
: Religious Experiences Shrink Part of the Brain
: A study links life-changing religious experiences, like being
: born
: again,
: with atrophy in the hippocampus
: By Andrew Newberg | May 31, 2011 | 38
: The article, “Religious factors and hippocampal atrophy in late life,”
: by Amy Owen and colleagues at Duke University represents an important
: advance in our growing understanding of the relationship between the
: brain and religion. The study, published March 30 in PLoS One, showed
| E*****m
发帖数: 25615 | | l*******e
发帖数: 3584 | 9 有趣，如文中所讲压力可能是导致海马萎缩的原因
The authors offer the hypothesis that the greater hippocampal atrophy in
selected religious groups might be related to stress. They argue that some
individuals in the religious minority, or those who struggle with their
beliefs, experience higher levels of stress. This causes a release of stress
hormones that are known to depress the volume of the hippocampus over time.
This might also explain the fact that both non-
religious as well as some religious individuals have smaller hippocampal
volumes.
宗教体验所带来的压力不一定只有信的人会有吧，特别是基版的这几位不信的朋友，你
们也要记着压力太大不好
再看看他们的研究对象就更有意思了，
They evaluated the MRIs of 268 men and women aged 58 and over, who were
originally recruited for the NeuroCognitive Outcomes of Depression in the
Elderly study, but who also answered several questions regarding their
religious beliefs and affiliation.
虽说好象是一些牛人的成果，但不能不说不是做科学研究的很难明白科学研究是什么。 | p**********r
发帖数: 3581 | 10
born
with atrophy in the hippocampus
您要是自己打自己一闷棍，大脑绝不会萎缩。
【在 l*****a 的大作中提到】
: Religious Experiences Shrink Part of the Brain
: A study links life-changing religious experiences, like being
: born
: again,
: with atrophy in the hippocampus
: By Andrew Newberg | May 31, 2011 | 38
: The article, “Religious factors and hippocampal atrophy in late life,”
: by Amy Owen and colleagues at Duke University represents an important
: advance in our growing understanding of the relationship between the
: brain and religion. The study, published March 30 in PLoS One, showed
| h****9
发帖数: 1087 | 11 标题党。假设的结论是一些宗教活动也带来高压力，高压力是导致海马体萎缩的直接原
因。
born
with atrophy in the hippocampus
【在 l*****a 的大作中提到】
: Religious Experiences Shrink Part of the Brain
: A study links life-changing religious experiences, like being
: born
: again,
: with atrophy in the hippocampus
: By Andrew Newberg | May 31, 2011 | 38
: The article, “Religious factors and hippocampal atrophy in late life,”
: by Amy Owen and colleagues at Duke University represents an important
: advance in our growing understanding of the relationship between the
: brain and religion. The study, published March 30 in PLoS One, showed
| E*****m
发帖数: 25615 | 12 這個研究證實基督徒不需要腦袋，用靈魂工作就可以，
所以大腦委縮。 | i*****t
发帖数: 24265 | 13 没去过教会的去看看，那些八九十岁的老人到底如何，向小孩一样，头脑清楚，手脚灵
活，身体健康，更重要的是心灵健康快乐。 | x****g
发帖数: 4008 | 14 Thanks for sharing
【在 l*****a 的大作中提到】
: Religious Experiences Shrink Part of the Brain
: A study links life-changing religious experiences, like being
: born
: again,
: with atrophy in the hippocampus
: By Andrew Newberg | May 31, 2011 | 38
: The article, “Religious factors and hippocampal atrophy in late life,”
: by Amy Owen and colleagues at Duke University represents an important
: advance in our growing understanding of the relationship between the
: brain and religion. The study, published March 30 in PLoS One, showed
|
|
