The Neural Correlates of Religious and Nonreligious Belief

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 4; no. 10; p. e7272
• Main Authors: Harris, Sam, Kaplan, Jonas T., Curiel, Ashley, Bookheimer, Susan Y., Iacoboni, Marco, Cohen, Mark S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 01.10.2009; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: 21st century; Adolescent; Adult; Behavior; Brain; Brain - anatomy & histology; Brain - physiology; Brain Mapping; Brain research; Child development; Christianity; Cognition; Cognition & reasoning; Cognition - physiology; Cognitive ability; Cortex (frontal); Cortex (parietal); Cortex (temporal); Departments; Ecstasy; Emotions - physiology; Female; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Genetic algorithms; Humans; Judgment - physiology; Judgments; Lobes; Magnetic resonance; Magnetic resonance imaging; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Male; Medical imaging; Memory; Neural Pathways - anatomy & histology; Neural Pathways - physiology; Neuroimaging; Neurology; Neuropsychological Tests; Neuroscience; Neuroscience/Cognitive Neuroscience; Neuroscience/Psychology; Neuroscience/Theoretical Neuroscience; Neurosciences; Prefrontal cortex; Psychiatry; Public opinion; Registration; Reinforcement; Religion; Religious aspects; Spirituality; Studies; Temporal lobe; Trends; Los Angeles California; United States > US; California

While religious faith remains one of the most significant features of human life, little is known about its relationship to ordinary belief at the level of the brain. Nor is it known whether religious believers and nonbelievers differ in how they evaluate statements of fact. Our lab previously has u...