Thinking About God Calms Theist Brain Waves, Distresses Atheists'
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Researchers have found that thinking religious thoughts causes changes in the brain waves of both believers and non-believers. University of Toronto Scarborough researchers primed participants by having them write about God or complete a crossword with a religious motif. Participants then completed a stressful computerized task while their brain waves were monitored. In the religious participants, activity decreased in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), an area of the brain involved in problem-solving and regulating physical response to emotion. But for the non-religious, activity in the ACC increased. According to the press release: The researchers suggest that for religious people, thinking about God may provide a way of ordering the world and explaining apparently random events and thus reduce their feelings of distress. In contrast, for atheists, thoughts of God may contradict the meaning systems they embrace and thus cause them more distress. SHARE:
Posted In: Cognitive Psychology | Tags: God | Religion | Atheists | Theists | Brain Waves | Anterior Cingulate Cortex | Posted by FindCounseling.com Staff on August 05, 2010 at 10:03 PM | Permalink |
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