Faith-sufferer: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 05:01, 1 June 2006

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==Physiological effects==

In a [[Single photon emission computed tomography|SPECT]] study, Andrew Newberg and Eugene d'Aquili found that during deep prayer, the brain shuts down activity in the posterior superior [[parietal lobe]] which includes the orientation association area. As a result, the individual loses the ability distinguish between the self and its surroundings, creating the neuropsychological illusion of being "intimately interwoven with everyone and everything the mind senses. And this perception would feel utterly and unquestionably real" to the theist [http://www.natcath.com/NCR_Online/archives/042001/042001a.htm 3]; the suppression of the left PSPL dissolves the individual sense of self, while the suppression of the right PSPL dissolves the individual perception of space.

Newberg also noted increased activity in the right side of the [[prefrontal cortex]], which includes the attention association area; among its functions are "the seat of personal will" (medial area) and "concentration on a given task" (dorsolateral area). The focus required to engage in the active approach to meditation accounts for both the increased activity in the prefrontal cortex, as well as the suppression of the posterior superior parietal lobe, as the dorsolateral area filters out extraneous sensory input not directly related to the individual's task (in this case, reaching a peak in meditation). Newberg has further postulated that the [[hippocampus]] and the [[thalamus]] are involved in the regulation of neural flow, which he calls the process of deafferentation. Unsurprisingly, such a state of selfless interconnection has been described by believers for centuries at the height of prayer