How Our Brains are Wired for Belief



The following is a short excerpt from the article: Some of the nation’s leading journalists gathered in Key West, Fla., in May 2008 for the Pew Forum’s biannual  Faith Angle Conference on religion, politics and public life.
Recent advances in neuroscience and brain-imaging technology have offered researchers a look into the physiology of religious experiences. In observing Buddhist monks as they meditate, Franciscan nuns as they pray and Pentecostals as they speak in tongues, Dr. Andrew Newberg, a radiologist at the University of Pennsylvania, has found that measurable brain activity matches up with the religious experiences described by worshipers. The social, political and religious implications of these and other findings are just beginning to permeate the broader culture, according to New York Times columnist David Brooks, who has been tracking new developments in the field.
To read the full article click on the link below:
http://www.pewforum.org/2008/05/05/how-our-brains-are-wired-for-belief/


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