Monday, June 16, 2008

God And Religion: Is It All In Our Heads?

Brain Blogger put up this nice entry last night that looks at the neural substrates of religious experience. Necessarily, it is brief, but still interesting.

God And Religion: Is It All In Our Heads?

June 15, 2008 | By Jennifer Gibson, PharmD

Neuroscience and Neurology Category

Science will never be able to prove or disprove the existence of God or any higher power. Isn’t this the cornerstone of faith, after all: a belief that needs no proof? Or perhaps, maybe the proof has been in our brains the whole time.

Our perceptions, emotions, and reactions to the world around us begin at birth, and shape our attitudes and interactions throughout our life. Through these beliefs, we learn who to trust, what to expect, and how to cope. The formation of beliefs involves the complex interplay of various areas of the brain. Though the exact mechanisms cannot be clearly defined, scientists know that the formation of beliefs involves physiologic changes in the brain. Studies have shown changes in activity in primitive areas of the brain at varying levels of belief and disbelief, and religious beliefs are no exception.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

We ask that you remove the content that you copied from our website and replace it with the first paragraph. We reserve full-text versions of our articles just for our site. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Shaheen

william harryman said...

Done, and apologies for over-stepping the boundaries.

Peace,
Bill