Study: "Born Again" Linked to Brain Atrophy

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Being 'Born-Again' Linked to More Brain Atrophy: Study
01/10/2012 3:58 PM

WEDNESDAY, May 25 (HealthDay News) -- Older adults who say they've had a life-changing religious experience are more likely to have a greater decrease in size of the hippocampus, the part of the brain critical to learning and memory, new research finds.

According to the study, people who said they were a "born-again" Protestant or Catholic, or conversely, those who had no religious affiliation, had more hippocampal shrinkage (or "atrophy") compared to people who identified themselves as Protestants, but not born-again.

The study is published online in PLoS ONE.

As people age, a certain amount of brain atrophy is expected. Shrinkage of the hippocampus is also associated with depression, dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

In the study, researchers asked 268 people aged 58 to 84 about their religious affiliation, spiritual practices and life-changing religious experiences. Over the course of two to eight years, changes to the hippocampus were monitored using MRI scans.

The researchers suggested that stress over holding religious beliefs that fall outside of the mainstream may help explain the findings.

"One interpretation of our finding -- that members of majority religious groups seem to have less atrophy compared with minority religious groups -- is that when you feel your beliefs and values are somewhat at odds with those of society as a whole, it may contribute to long-term stress that could have implications for the brain," Amy Owen, lead author of the study and a research associate at Duke University Medical Center, said in a Duke news release.

The study authors also suggested that life-changing religious experiences could challenge a person's established religious beliefs, triggering stress.

"Other studies have led us to think that whether a new experience you consider spiritual is interpreted as comforting or stressful may depend on whether or not it fits in with your existing religious beliefs and those of the people around you," David Hayward, research associate at Duke University Medical Center, added. "Especially for older adults, these unexpected new experiences may lead to doubts about long-held religious beliefs, or to disagreements with friends and family."

The researchers noted other factors related to hippocampal atrophy, such as age, depression or brain size, as well as other religious factors such as prayer or meditation, could not explain the study's findings.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke provides details onbrain atrophy.

-- Mary Elizabeth Dallas

SOURCE: Duke University, news release, May 19, 2011

Copyright © 2011 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

I can furnish the actual link to the article on the health.com website.

These sort of articles will grow more prevelant till they state that believing in a Son of God is for the deranged, lunactics and madmen. They will call us all kinds of evil and even the most hideous wicked people on the earth.

______________

I was thinking the same thing. How long before they say that medically speaking professing and believing in Jesus will do you harm so for your own good its unlawful or such....the world will attack those who are in HIM!

I agree its time to be strong in the LORD and to keep our focus daily moment by moment in HIM!!

God Bless
mj

This came yesterday and I think it's appropriate to post here also,
Wayne
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scandal of the Cross
by Martyn Lloyd-Jones

There was a time when it was true to say of the masses of the people that ... they recognized the truth of the Gospel ... but failed to put it into practice. They may have gone further and objected to its stringent ethical and moral demands. But even then they were paying tribute to it, and merely putting up defenses for their own sin and weaknesses. The gospel in those days was recognized as presenting the highest and the best way of life ... That was once the position. But it is no longer so ... The general attitude towards the gospel has changed completely ... today it is being actively attacked and opposed. Indeed, we have even reached a stage beyond that; it is being ridiculed and dismissed.

The claim today is that it is something which no educated, reasonable person can possibly accept and believe. It is placed in the category of folklore and superstition ... All this can be proved, it is contended, by the advance of knowledge, the result of scientific discovery, and the light which psychology has thrown on human nature and its strange behaviour. Certain aspects of the moral teaching of the gospel are accepted and praised, though some would even reject that, but as for the central claims of the gospel ... all these things are rejected with contempt and sarcasm ... Salvation is to be found, according to the modern man, in the full use of the human capacities and powers which can be trained by knowledge and education. Man must save himself; man can save himself ... And if anyone ventures ... to say that the gospel is the only hope for mankind ... he would be roared at as a lunatic or a fool.

Nevertheless, that is precisely and exactly what we assert today, as Paul did so long ago.... We do not hesitate to state that the only hope for men is to believe the gospel of Christ.

The Plight of Man and the Power of God, pp. 76-9

Post such as this cause me to reflect about how the progressive/liberal movement is able to establish itself philosophy of life on society. In some cases it is a good thing but in many cases it is not a good thing.

In mortuary college I immediately lost all my professor's respect when I was put on the spot and asked if I believed Jesus Christ was divine. I don't remember how the topic of religion was initiated, but it came down to that question being poised to me in front of about 20 students. When I said I did, the professor folded his arms and frowned at me.

"Mr. West, I expected more from you," he said. I was his poster child for professional academics and decorum before this. That one admission brought it all down, and I was avoided from there on. The respect was gone.

The world thinks you're a bigoted idiot if you confess Christ before men - especially within the scientific community. But didn't Jesus Himself clue us in before the fact? This "shrinking brain" nonsense article is just another furthering of the perceived foolishness (this time, literally!) the unconverted have of the converted.

snippet from the article:

"compared to people who identified themselves as Protestants, but not born-again."

Commentary by me:
Now what sort of Christian, Protestant no less, says they are not born-again? They need to read John chapter 3 where Jesus tells Nicodemus that unless a person is born-again they cannot enter the kingdom of God.

I love these kinds of articles, they give me encouragement that the coming of the Lord is very soon.

"The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." -Psalm 110:1

In other words:

"Have a seat Son, let this nonsense go on for awhile and We'll wrap it up with them and all their wisdom, You will trample on their heads. Yes Son, have a seat and relax..."

I found this article on the fox news website.

I don't know if it is a REAL study... It may be fabricated... BUT...

it IS being reported on NATIONAL news websites as fact.

I found this article on the fox news website.

I don't know if it is a REAL study... It may be fabricated... BUT...

it IS being reported on NATIONAL news websites as fact.

Well, on the up side at least we're lovable psychopaths.

I think I'm going to trademark that, it would be a good name for a band 'Loveable Psycho'.

Kidding of course :-)

Interesting article, now we just need to figure out how we can grow the thing back again. Personally I blame the atrophy on all those potluck dinners after church; I notice a direct loss of intellectual capacity after one of those.

On the positive side, I won't remember any of this in the morning.

In Christ,

Ron

Articles like this, and Paul's college testimony, show that Nazi science is still alive and well in the 21st century. While all of this bigoted rubbish may be merely the prelude in the grand theater of eschatology, and our stage cue as sheep to form our long peaceful slaughter line, we still owe to our brains to recognize the writing as an insult to the intelligence of everyone sitting in the audience watching this farce.

What happened to the IQ tests?

Diane

What happened to the IQ tests?

They are saving that for next week, then we'll be dumb and psychotic! But, I still prefer this company. :-)

As brain imaging technology matures and diversifies, I'm sure technicians running these tests are tempted to elevate themselves to the status of pioneering scientists who can "see" much more then they really can. (Of course this "seeing" is predicated on the idea that everything we are can be explained biologically. )

Now scientists don't actually claim to "see" a person's mind; because afterall, there is no mind; there is only the brain organ. Once again approved science must dismiss what it cannot measure with it's current tool set. What the fMRI, CT, PET, EEG, MEG, NIRS, and others scans cannot see, is simply declared an illusion created by the mechanisms that can be seen. Therefore consciousness, with all of it's inherent individual value and moral instinct, is an illusion! (edit: so we supposed to believe)

if this is true ,then that was the theroy a came up with the morning

the carnal mind is emity toward god

if we have been set free from indulging in carnal thoughts ,, this must have an effect on parts of our brain

there for the parts of the brain that is actavaited by the carnal mind must begin to shrink and become inoprative

and if this news report is a lie ,,then blessed are the that are persacuted and spoken of as evil ,and called brain damaged ,,for they shal be called the children of god

either way , we are blessed

amen jesus is god

As evident from this excerpt in Scientific American, the study is far from conclusive in the scientific community:

"They evaluated the MRIs of 268 men and women aged 58 and over, who were originally recruited for the NeuroCognitive Outcomes of Depression in the Elderly study, but who also answered several questions regarding their religious beliefs and affiliation

(...)

.... the causal relationship between brain findings and religion is difficult to clearly establish. Is it possible, for example, that those people with smaller hippocampal volumes are more likely to have specific religious attributes, drawing the causal arrow in the other direction? Further, it might be that the factors leading up to the life-changing events are important and not just the experience itself. Since brain atrophy reflects everything that happens to a person up to that point, one cannot definitively conclude that the most intense experience was in fact the thing that resulted in brain atrophy. So there are many potential factors that could lead to the reported results. (It is also somewhat problematic that stress itself did not correlate with hippocampal volumes since this was one of the potential hypotheses proposed by the authors and thus, appears to undercut the conclusions.) One might ask whether it is possible that people who are more religious suffer greater inherent stress, but that their religion actually helps to protect them somewhat. Religion is frequently cited as an important coping mechanism for dealing with stress.

This new study is intriguing and important. It makes us think more about the complexity of the relationship between religion and the brain. This field of scholarship, referred to as neurotheology, can greatly advance our understanding of religion, spirituality, and the brain. Continued studies of both the acute and chronic effects of religion on the brain will be highly valuable. For now, we can be certain that religion affects the brain--we just are not certain how.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=religious-experiences-shrink-part-of-brain

these things i do ,leaving those things that are befor me
i press towrds the mark ,toward the high calling that is in jesus christ

if living in the present and having a hope of spiritual substance that does not origanate ,in our old carnl mind and brain ,,,,and putting off the old man and it deeds ,and becoming a new creations with spirual desires ,, means that we are called brain damage ,or that it has an effect on our brain ,,,,so be it

in reality ,,they would need to do numerous repetative experments over and over again , to no weather this is just a coincidence or not ,,,,,,,,,and they havent even come close to doing this

in reality ,,they would need to do numerous repetative experments over and over again , to no weather this is just a coincidence or not ,,,,,,,,,and they havent even come close to doing this

“I plan to stand back and watch the fireworks erupt. And I’ll await the peer review and follow-up studies which will, someday, tell us how valid this study truly is.”
http://www.agnostic-library.com/ma/2011/06/02/does-religion-cause-brain-damage/
Likewise it would reflect our intelligence best by not reacting at this point. See what the peer reviews come out with.

Meanwhile here is a study, taken from Wikipedia which may do our intellectual capacities much more good:

“Furthermore, a randomized-control study published in 2011 found that aerobic exercise could increase the size of the hippocampus in adults aged 55 to 80 and also improve spatial memory.

Diane

This is one of the most ridiculous things I've heard in a while! Sorry if I'm not serious enough about the whole thing, but I actually think it's pretty funny. What will they come out with next?!

Likewise it would reflect our intelligence best by not reacting at this point. See what the peer reviews come out with.

Better leave this subject to the experts eh? ;)

MC

Maybe that is when these folks were tested - after a church potluck dinner! Yes, the men here get very agreeable, many nodding at whatever without hearing anything!

(This made my husband chuckle! Reckon these folks know how to laugh?)

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Romans 1:21

THAT ABOUT SUMS UP WHAT I THINK OF THIS NONSENSICAL ARTICLE

Very funny Ginny!

There is a humerous story that comes to mind illustrating how easily our experiences can intepret facts into narritives.

Once a scientific survey was taken of four different groups of religous ministers to test their reactions to being blindfolded and pushed down a flight of stairs.

Those in Methodist group fell down the stairs, picked themselves up and
said, "That was a character building experience, so how do I learn from it?"

The Catholics picked themselves up and said, "I must have done something really bad to deserve that."

When the Presbyterian group tumbled down the stairs, they picked themselves up and said, "That was planned and inevitable, but I'm glad its over."

And when the Baptist ministers fell down the stairs, they each picked themselves up and said, "Which one of my deacons pushed me?"

MC

Better leave this subject to the experts eh?

For years science has been using the media to advance unscientifically proven claims and imminent “breakthroughs”. How many times do you hear words like “suggest”, “possible”, “could be”? Unfortunately the public has a terrible tendency to believe the media; once a suggestion is put forth it sticks as fact – even if later proven otherwise. And here’s just another case.

But then the public loves to hear bad reports about someone – and then milk it for all its worth. After all, it’s exhilarating to feel you are more right than “them”. ….. Of course true born-again Christians would have no need to engage in such behavior - would they?

Let’s admit, brains have often been the object of prejudice and persecution. Consider how blacks and also women were assumed to have lesser brains and thus considered intellectually deficient. Christians themselves have promoted such assumptions in the past.

This present report is sheer mockery to me because the researchers would have no idea what “born again” means. Add to that a Barna study which asserts that a large percentage of Americans claim to be born again (had an experience) but show no evidence of church involvement or interest in Bible reading. Besides, how many dedicated zealous churchers have given the label “born again” a bad rap justifiably?

So, the real tragedy may not be the foolishness of our “experts” or of the public – but the real possibility of Romans 2:24 “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you” - “You” being those who take God’s name in vain – call themselves one of his, but do not authentically live the kingdom way of thinking and living.

What do you think?

Diane

In the larger picture, I must agree with you, all we can do in the face of this prejudice is to try not adding to it by our own behavior.

Thanks Diane,

MC

Just great, yet another study that will give support to my wife saying to me, "have you lost your mind?"

I cannot help but likening the true intellect with a maze. Before rebirth, one is in the maze, not discerning where one direction leads over another. The rebirth brings one out of the maze and distances them from it. This new positioning gifts them the full overview of the entire maze and its futility, a spiritual intellect no man can attain apart from being born again.

I checked this article out and emailed the link to my brother-in-law who is a college professor in the biological sciences. He has also done some research and had papers printed.

Anyhow...

Here is Roman's reply to my inquiry which I consider to be trust-worthy.

"Conclusions seem valid for this cluster of selected patients. However, the correct interpretation or explanation for these findings remains elusive. Surveys (especially a small one like this one) frequently try to demonstrate trends and but are difficult to support with additional studies.

I wouldn’t lose a lot of sleep over this one…."

ginnyrose

I wouldn’t lose a lot of sleep over this one…."

Ginnyrose,

It was thoughtful of you to seek Roman’s insight on our behalf. His advice is helpful. After all, if such an inconclusive report gets God’s people all bent out of shape – defensive and paranoid, interpreting it as a sure sign the world is ending – will maybe that would merely help validate their conclusions. And we wouldn’t want to do that, right!?

No need to lose sleep over it! On the other hand - it's a good reminder that when such a negative report surfaces in the media over someone we disfavor - we aught not to accept it too hastily either.

Diane