Does being born again shrink your brain?

1. 79

   Uninvited Writerposted 12 years ago

   This is an interesting article:
   
   http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic … t-of-brain
   
   To be fair, they also say that not having a religious affiliation also suffer from this. Seems only "regular" Protestants are exempt

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      Apostle Jackposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      FIRST,you have to define BRAIN,or what scientist call MIND....in order to began.
      Born again,is a SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION, it is not suppose to be,until now.Predestine for this very time.

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         Cagsilposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Talk about not knowing much.

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            Apostle Jackposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Is that a subject?Here is good one,it is call  "EDUCATIONAL CHALLENGE."
            Spirituality against science.DNA against that which have no DNA.
            and the INCREASE OF KNOWLEDGE against PRESENT DAY KNOWLEDGE and schools of education.

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      Emile Rposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I'm sorry.  Did you bother to read the article? 
      
      'Thus, Owen and his colleagues certainly pose a plausible hypothesis. They also cite some of the limitations of their findings, such as the small sample size. More importantly, 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.'
      
      
      Other than trying to drum up a laugh or two, what's your point?

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         Uninvited Writerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Did you bother to read what I said in my post?
         
         And I didn't say it was conclusive one way or the other. I just asked the question that the article did...

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            Emile Rposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I did. Hence, the question. 
            
            Yes you posted a title in the same manner they did. It had nothing to do with the findings. It was an attention grabber.
            
            There was a tiny sample group of older people. And they admit this cannot be used to pinpoint religion, or lack of it, as the cause.

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      Twenty One Daysposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      That depends,
      if you mean someone born of spirit(s), that is called a hangover.
      And yes, the human brain shrinks nearly 1/8 inch from excessive, short span, alcohol intake.
      In essence, slight dehydration results in shrinkage.
      
      jeje.
      
      Just Kidding folks, don't take it all so seriously.
      
      James.

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         Druid Dudeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Not wearing a hat.

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   Beelzedadposted 12 years ago

   Interesting article, here's an excerpt which talks about those who also have no religious affiliation and are included in the demographics.
   
   "This study also broke down these individuals into those who are born again or who have had life-changing religious experiences.
   
   The results showed significantly greater hippocampal atrophy in individuals reporting a life-changing religious experience. In addition, they found significantly greater hippocampal atrophy among born-again Protestants, Catholics, and those with no religious affiliation, compared with Protestants not identifying as born-again."
   
   

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      Emile Rposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Funny how everyone picks and chooses pieces of any story, avoiding the final results which are obviously inconclusive. Seems like every one always ignores  the absence of facts in order to push an agenda.

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   knolyourselfposted 12 years ago

   Makes no sense to me.

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   Uninvited Writerposted 12 years ago

   Just wanting people to think

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   Muldanianmanposted 12 years ago

   I would hope that if I were to be born again, that not only would my brain shrink, but that everything else would too.  Otherwise, I pity my poor mother.

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