- Neurotheology is a field that unites brain science and psychology with religious belief and practices.
- There are several indirect and direct mechanisms that link spirituality with improved mental health.
- Compassion and love are positive emotions that will make your brain healthier.
The field of neurotheology continues to expand from its early origins several decades ago to the present day. In its simplest definition, neurotheology refers to the field of scholarship that seeks to understand the relationship between the brain and our religious and spiritual selves. As I always like to say, it is important to consider both sides of neurotheology very broadly. Thus, the "neuro" side includes brain imaging, psychology, neurology, medicine, and even anthropology. And the "theology" side includes theology itself, but also various aspects related to religious beliefs, attitudes, practices, and experiences.
The mental health benefits of spirituality
Neurotheology also ranges from considering very esoteric concepts including questions around free will, consciousness, and the soul, to very practical concepts such as understanding how the brain functions and the relationship between spirituality and physical and mental health. This latter topic might be called "applied neurotheology." Applied neurotheology, therefore, seeks to understand the health-related aspects pertaining to our brain and our spiritual selves. In particular, we can try to understand how being religious or spiritual, or performing various spiritual practices, might be beneficial to our overall health and well-being. In our latest book, entitled Brain Weaver, we consider this important dimension of human brain health.
Even for those who are not religious, pursuing practices such as meditation and prayer — even when secularized — can be beneficial for reducing stress and anxiety.
A growing number of studies have shown how spirituality and mental health are linked. Importantly, studies have shown that those who are religious and spiritual tend to have lower rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide. This is true across the age spectrum with studies of adolescents showing that religious and spiritual pursuits are protective against mental health problems. And many adults cite religious and spiritual beliefs as important for coping with various life stressors.
Indirect mechanisms
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If there is a relationship between spirituality and positive mental health, we might question what the mechanism of action might be. I have typically divided the mechanisms into indirect and direct ones. The indirect mechanisms have to do with specific aspects of a given tradition that end up having ancillary mental health benefits. For example, going to church or other social events that are part of a religious tradition can be beneficial because social support, in and of itself, is beneficial to our mental health. The more people that we have in our social support network, the better we are at coping with various life stressors including problems with jobs, relationships, or health.
Most religions also teach people to avoid a lot of high-risk behaviors that can be very detrimental to our mental health and well-being. For example, most religions teach us to avoid alcohol and drugs, to not be promiscuous, and to try to be compassionate and charitable to others. By following these teachings, people will naturally avoid mental health problems such as substance abuse and tend toward being more optimistic and less depressed. These effects have nothing to do with being religious per se and everything to do with following a religion's advice.
Another interesting indirect mechanism of action related to religion has to do with diet and nutrition. Diet and nutrition are frequently overlooked when it comes to good mental health, even though research increasingly indicates they are essential. Many traditions ask individuals to follow certain dietary guidelines. For example, Hindus tend to have vegetarian diets, and most research to date shows that eating a more plant-based diet with a lot of low-inflammatory foods is good not only for your body but for your brain as well. In fact, we are currently performing a study with patients who have chronic concussion symptoms to determine the effect of dietary improvements on overall brain function.
Direct mechanisms
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The direct mechanisms of action have to do with specific spiritual practices and even a person's personal sense of spirituality. Much of my research over the past 30 years has been to study the brain while people engage in different practices such as meditation or prayer. We have even observed brain changes associated with unique spiritual practices such as speaking in tongues or trance states. The brain effects related to these practices are quite remarkable and diverse. It should come as no surprise since these practices affect people on many different levels, such as the way people think, feel, and experience the world around them. Thus, we should expect to observe physiological differences in the parts of the brain involved with these practices.
Meditation and prayer, for example, activate the frontal lobes as well as the language areas of the brain, and research demonstrates that this occurs not only while the practice is performed but over the long-term as well. Our study of Kirtan Kriya meditation showed improvements of about 10 to 15 percent in cognition as well as reductions in stress, anxiety, and depression. These were associated with baseline changes to the brain's frontal lobe functions, which regulate these cognitive processes and modulate emotional responses.
More recent research has been exploring the effects of these practices on larger brain networks, and perhaps more important, specific neurotransmitter systems. One of our recent studies of a spiritual retreat program showed significant changes to the areas of the brain that release dopamine and serotonin. These are areas known to be involved in both cognition and emotional health. And there are a growing number of clinical studies which have documented the value of various spiritual practices or religiously oriented therapies for helping people manage a variety of mental health conditions including depression, anxiety, and ADHD as well as neurological conditions like Alzheimer's and seizure disorders.
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Finally, a personal sense of spirituality may be protective in and of itself. When people feel connected to all of humanity, a higher power, or the entire universe, that experience gives people a sense of meaning and purpose in life and an optimistic perspective on what the future holds. A number of research studies have shown that having such faith can be beneficial to your overall physical and mental health.
Improving brain health with applied neurotheology
Applied neurotheology can teach us the value of exploring our religious and spiritual side as a way of improving our mental health and well-being. Even for those who are not religious, pursuing practices such as meditation and prayer — even when secularized — can be beneficial for reducing stress and anxiety. Connecting with the larger world — by going on a nature walk, socializing with friends and family, or trying to make your neighborhood a better place by helping others — leads to a greater sense of compassion and love, positive emotions that will make your brain healthier.
Dr. Andrew Newberg is a neuroscientist who studies the relationship between brain function and various mental states. He is a pioneer in the neurological study of religious and spiritual experiences, a field known as "neurotheology." His latest book is Brain Weaver.
- The Neuroscience of Religious Experiences: Andrew Newberg LIVE ... ›
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- Is The Human Brain Hardwired for God? - Big Think ›
Natural selection takes time. According to the fossil record, sharks, for example, have been essentially the same for hundreds of millions of years. But something's up lately, and by "lately" we mean the last nine million years. Sharks off of Australia have learned to walk. Not Great Whites, fortunately. Small sharks that feed on coral reefs. Cute sharks, actually.
Scientists have known for some time that five such shark species exist, but new research nearly doubles that number to nine. The new information comes from a 12-year study from an an international team of scientists from University of Queensland (UQ), Conservation International, CSIRO, the Florida Museum of Natural History, and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences and Indonesian Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries published in Marine and Freshwater Research.
Don't mess with success
Over the last 400 million years, only about 1,200 shark species have emerged. "We see animals from 180 million years ago with exactly the same teeth," Gavin Naylor of the Florida Program for Shark Research at the University of Florida tells National Geographic. While it's true they're not the most prolific reproducers, and have a long life span, that's still plenty of time for useful mutations to arise. On the other hand, if it ain't broke, don't fix it — Earth and the oceans may change, but as predators, sharks do just fine as they are. Even if, as Naylor says of sixgill sharks, they "seem stuck back in time."
Walking to dinner
The walking sharks, or "epaulette sharks," live in coastal waters off northern Australia and the island of New Guinea. They prowl coral reefs when the tide goes out, walking through shallow water on their pectoral fins in the front and pelvic fins in the back, on the hunt for crabs, shrimp, small fish. They're adept at wriggling their way into tight nooks to find food, too. "At less than a meter long on average," says Christine Dudgeon of UQ, "walking sharks present no threat to people, but their ability to withstand low oxygen environments and walk on their fins gives them a remarkable edge over their prey of small crustaceans and mollusks." Says Dudgeon, "During low tides, they became the top predator on the reef."
The abilities of the small sharks — they're less than three feet in length — definitely put them in a class of their own, says Dudgeon: "These unique features are not shared with their closest relatives the bamboo sharks or more distant relatives in the carpet shark order including wobbegongs and whale sharks."
Though the five epaulette species don't look much alike, varying in markings and color, their DNA identified them as family. Says Dudgeon, "We estimated the connection between the species based on comparisons between their mitochondrial DNA which is passed down through the maternal lineage. This DNA codes for the mitochondria which are the parts of cells that transform oxygen and nutrients from food into energy for cells."
What's the hurry?
The researchers theorize that a few factors may have accelerated the epaulets' evolution. First off, they keep to themselves in their own separate region, with extensive inbreeding perhaps speeding up the rate of mutation. "Data suggests the new species evolved after the sharks moved away from their original population, became genetically isolated in new areas and developed into new species," explains Dudgeon. "They may have moved by swimming or walking on their fins, but it's also possible they 'hitched' a ride on reefs moving westward across the top of New Guinea, about two million years ago."
Another possible factor are the ever-changing reefs themselves. They're continually in flux as oceans change and as corals live and die, with rising and falling sea levels, as well as changing currents and temperatures. The epaulettes' success depends on adapting quickly to a very dynamic environment, about which Naylor says, "It's the shark equivalent of the Galápagos, where you can see shark evolution in action."
Beachgoers needn't fear for their tootsies just yet, but just wait another few million years, and who knows?
