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发帖数: 38403 | 1 A study links life-changing religious experiences, like being born again,
with atrophy in the hippocampus
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. |
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