The neuroscience argument that religion shaped the very structure of our brains [View all]

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Evolution and religion are closely intertwined, argue neuroscientists. (Alfred Anwander, MPI-CBS)

WRITTEN BY Olivia Goldhill
4 hours ago

Religion and neuroscience are not an obvious pairing. But earlier this week, a study published in Social Neuroscience demonstrated that spiritual feelings activate the neurological reward systems of devout Mormons. The study used fMRI scans to show that the nucleus accumbens—an area associated with reward—is activated when Mormons who have a strong sense of spirituality carry out religious activities. The same area can also be activated by love, sex, drugs, and music.

In this particular paper, the study, with a sample size of just 19, has serious limitations. But it’s part of a young and fast-growing new field that examines the relationship between our brains and religion, called neurotheology.

Jordan Grafman, head of the cognitive neuroscience laboratory at Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and neurology professor at Northwestern University, says that neurotheology is important in part because early religious practices helped develop our brains to begin with. “Religion has played an incredibly important role in human evolution. It’s funny, people want to separate the two but in fact they’re intertwined,” he says.

Of course, it’s a two-way relationship between the brain and religion. Our brains had to develop the capacity to establish social communities and behaviors, which are the basis of religious societies. But religious practice in turn developed the brain, says Grafman. “As these societies became more co-operative, our brains evolved in response to that. Our brain led to behavior and then the behavior fed back to our brain to help sculpt it,” he adds.

http://qz.com/852450/the-neuroscience-argument-that-religion-shaped-the-very-structure-of-our-brains/