Scientists found that having a religious or spiritual experience activates the brain's "reward circuits" in the same way that love, sex, gambling, drugs and music do.
More than 5.8 billion people say that religion and spirituality have some influence on their lives. Yet scientists know very little about what happens in the brain when someone is having a religious experience. Why does one person feel peace, joy and positivity, while another feels motivated to carry out an act of violence? Are the same neural networks in the brain responsible for both? Or do they differ from one person to the next?
These and many other questions are the focus of new research from neuroradiologist Jeff Anderson, M.D., Ph.D., and his colleagues at the University of Utah School of Medicine.
The findings, part of the university's Religious Brain Project, have the potential for identifying how people are different and how they are the same when it comes to religion and spirituality.
Interesting reading via DiscoveryNewshttp://www.seeker.com/this-is-your-brain-on-god-2117877144.html
Journal article:http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17470919.2016.1257437?scroll=top&needAccess=true
Corina Marinescu
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