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Neuroscience of Prayer: Current Research

Neuroscience of Prayer: Current Research. James A. Van Slyke. Prayer and the Reward Systems of the Brain ( Schjodt et. al. 2008). Research from the University of Aarhous , Denmark Participants Protestant Danish Christians 20 participants (mean age 25.4) 6 males 14 females

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Neuroscience of Prayer: Current Research

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  1. Neuroscience of Prayer: Current Research James A. Van Slyke

  2. Prayer and the Reward Systems of the Brain (Schjodt et. al. 2008) • Research from the University of Aarhous, Denmark • Participants • Protestant Danish Christians • 20 participants (mean age 25.4) • 6 males • 14 females • Experimental Conditions • Two Different forms of prayer analyzed • Formal prayer (Ritualistic, scripted) = Lord’s Prayer • Informal prayer (Low structure, improvised)

  3. Prayer and the Reward Systems of the Brain (Schjodt et. al. 2008) • Control Conditions • Well known rhyme (Control formal) • Asking for gifts from Santa Claus (Control informal) • Baseline (Counting back from 100) • Procedure • Each participant went through both the experimental and control conditions • Tasks were prompted by headphones and lasted 30 seconds (repeated 6 times) • Tasks were performed silently using internal speech

  4. Prayer and the Reward Systems of the Brain (Schjodt et. al. 2008) • During the Tasks brain activity was assess using fMRI • MRI – Magentic resonance imaging • Provides structural layout of the brain • Similar to an X-ray • fMRI – (functional magnetic resonance imaging) • Estimates areas of the brain active during a task • BOLD response • Measures the amount of blood oxygenation levels in the brain • Higher oxygenation = higher levels of brain activity

  5. Reward Systems of the Brain: Striatum, Caudate Nucleus and Putamen

  6. Reward Systems of the Brain: Striatum, Caudate Nucleus and Putamen • Reward Systems both anticipate and estimate future rewards • May be involved in both early and later stages of addiction • May play a role in habitual behavior in terms of reward • Caudate Nucleus • Instrumental conditioning • Reward systems increase the likelihood of repeating certain behaviors learned through experience • Damage to this area may induce symptoms of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) • OCD has been linked with increased activity in the caudate

  7. Prayer and the Reward Systems of the Brain (Schjodt 2008) • Hypothesis: Prayers will activate the reward systems of the brain (Caudate nucleus) • Results • Both prayer conditions showed increased activity in the caudate and decreased activity during controls • Formal prayer showed a slightly higher activation • Participants self-reported as strong believers • Self-reported as involved in a weekly practice of prayer (Lord’s prayer mean = 4.75; Personal prayer mean =19.75

  8. Social Cognition and Prayer (Schjoedt et. al. 2009) • Follow up analysis • Used same set of experimental and control conditions • Expanded fMRI analysis to include areas of the brain used in social cognition • Hypothesis: Personal (non-formal) prayer activates areas of the brain used in social cognition • Praying to God is an intersubjective experience similar to general aspects of interpersonal interaction between persons

  9. Understanding Social Cognition • Social and Affective Neuroscience • Areas of the brain seem to be specialized for dealing with social relationships • Emotional evaluation; Estimating levels of trust • Areas of the brain from this study • Precuneas • Higher order cognitive functions • Often involved in self-referential behavior (information important for the self • Schjodt et. al. interpretation • Prayer involves information important for the self (i.e. desires or problems

  10. Understanding Social Cognition • MPFC (Medial Prefrontal Cortex)

  11. The Famous Case of Phineas Gage • Before accident • Intelligent • capable worker • excellent manager • responsible family man • upstanding citizen • After Accident • Maintained his general intelligence • Unreliable and capricious • Socially Inappropriate • Lost his family and fortune

  12. Case of Elliott • Before • good husband and father • high level job at business firm • had attained an enviable social status • Post surgery, tumor removed in orbital frontal area • irresponsible • unable to manage his time • flawed decision making • Divorced; entered unwise marriage • lost his job

  13. Case of Elliot • Laboratory test results • maintained superior IQ (WAIS) • flawless memory • superior language ability • normal on lab tests of financial and ethical decision making • normal lab ability to generate solutions to social problems • Could predict social consequences

  14. Galvanic Skin Response (Measures Moisture in skin) Iowa Gambling Task

  15. Gambling game • Test of decisions and consequences • normal individuals develop anticipatory evaluative autonomic response (mini emotional response) • Elliot was never able to develop a discriminatory anticipation while choosing from the bad decks

  16. Follow up study to Elliott • NORMALS • In normal participants (no MPFC lesions), anticipatory skin conductive responses (SCRs) occurred at around 20 deck choices when selecting from the “bad” decks, despite participants not forming a conscious “hunch” until around 50 selections. • Generally by card 80, normal participants could articulate what was occurring with respect to “good” decks and “bad” decks • 30 % did not have a conceptual understanding of the task but still made advantageous decisions. • VMPFC LESION PARTICIPANTS • The few participants who made it to the conceptualization phase still were making disadvantageous decisions • No anticipatory SCRs were experienced by any of the participants with VMPFC damage

  17. Other regions of interest • Temporopolar region • Associated with autobiographical memory • Processing of social narratives • Personal prayer requires memory of how God has answered prayers in the past (Schjoedt interpretation) • Temporo-parietal junction • Analyzing behavior • Processing social causation and goal attribution • Praying to God may be a type of negotiation; hoping to change God’s intentions toward a situation (Schjoedt interpretation)

  18. Findings • For each one of the areas of the brainselected for analysis there was a higher level of activation in relation to personal prayer than the other conditions • Theory of Mind • Many of the areas investigated have also been linked with TOM • TOM is the ability to understand the thoughts and intentions of others (Mind-Reading) • Important part of social life • Deficit in persons with Autism

  19. Power of Charisma (2010) • Participants (n=37) • Males = 15 • Females = 22 • Christians = 18 (mean age 23) • Pentecostal • Frequent prayers (intercessory for 12 years; 33 times per month) • Secular = 18 (mean age 26.4) • No belief in God • No belief in the effect of prayer

  20. Power of Charisma (2010) • Procedure • Participants listened to 18 different prayers performed by males • Prayers were listed in three categories • Non-Christian (6) • Christian (6) • Christian known for being able to heal through prayer (6) • In reality all prayers were recorded by a single group of Christians and than randomly assigned to each group • Each prayer lasted 30 s

  21. Power of Charisma (2010) • Results • Christians rated speakers charisma and presence of God for all three conditions • Highest for “healing powers” lowest for “non-Christians” • God was reported as present in all conditions • Non-Christians showed a similar but lower pattern for charisma, but no real difference for experiencing God’s presence

  22. Power of Charisma (2010) • Results • Secular participants – no real difference in brain activation for the three groups • Christian groups • Cascade effect from non-Christian (N-C) to healing powers (HP) group • Higher levels of activation for N-C and lower levels for Christian and HP group • Different areas of the brain – Prefrontal cortex; temporoparietal junction; inferior temporal cortex; temporopolar/ orbitofrontal; cerebellum

  23. Power of Charisma (2010) • Discussion • Watching pictures of loved ones can deactivate executive system (Bartels and Zeki 2000; 2004) • Could be neural subsystem involved in trust? • Takes more cognitive power to override prayer given by NC group • Schjoedt interpretation • Intercessory prayer similar to hypnosis • “Handing over” of executive function to the leader • Power of prayer based on the perceived charismatic authority of healer or leader (Max Weber 1922)

  24. Critiques (Spezio 2011) • The problem of reverse inference • Prayer activity linked with a brain area • Other studies link the area with some function • Thus, the same function is present in current study • Without specific test in experiment for assumed function, it is difficult to make causal interpretations • Most areas of the brain participate in numerous overlapping functions; difficult to limit areas of the brain to one function • fMRI studies should be taken seriously, but still tentatively

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