Nov 30, 2016 12:00:00

Religiously activated brain regions turned out to be the same as gambling

Karl Marx said, 'Religion is the opium of the people,' but it's not clear how the brain reacts when it feels religious.

Meanwhile, an American researcher has announced that the reward system of the brain, which is activated during religious activities, is the same as the part that is activated by gambling and listening to music.

Reward, salience, and attentional networks are activated by religious experience in devout Mormons: Social Neuroscience: Vol 0, No 0
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/17470919.2016.1257437

The brain on God
https://www.researchgate.net/blog/post/the-brain-on-god

A research team led by Dr. Jeffrey S. Anderson of the University of Utah said, 'The reward system of the brain activated by mental experiences involving religious activities is the same as the part activated by listening to music and gambling.' I published a paper called. Dr. Anderson used fMRI to observe the brains of 19 devout Mormons. In the experiment, the subject was shown a video explaining the teachings of religion and scanned by fMRI while giving an audiovisual stimulus, and when he had the strongest feelings about his faith, he was asked to press a button to examine the state of brain waves. increase. In addition, many subjects felt the same high emotions as when worshiping during fMRI scanning, and some of them cried.

As a result, the nucleus accumbens and prefrontal cortex were activated when feeling faith, and they were often found in the right brain. And it turns out that the activated brain area is the same area that is activated when listening to music, having a romantic experience, receiving love from parents, or winning a gambling. rice field.

According to Anderson, people who are not so religious may be stimulated by similar reward systems in other ways than in religion. Examples include patriotic images, peaceful views of nature, and profound scientific ideas.