Study suggests 'born-again' believers have smaller brains

[rug]

DURHAM, N.C. — For decades, mainline Protestants have been beset by bad news: declining numbers, aging membership, waning cultural influence. A new study from Duke University Medical Center, however, gives these Protestants one reason for cheer: they seem to have larger brains than born-again Christians, Roman Catholics and the religiously unaffiliated.

The study, which examined the hippocampus region of the brain, found that Protestants who did not have a "born again" experience had significantly more gray matter than either those who reported a life-changing religious experience, Catholics, or unaffiliated older adults.

The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Templeton Foundation, included at least two MRI measurements of the hippocampus region of 268 adults between 1994 and 2005.

It found an association between participants' professed religious affiliation and the physical structure of their brain. Specifically, those identified as Protestant who did not have a religious conversion or born-again experience — more common among their evangelical brethren — had a bigger hippocampus.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2011-05-25-brain24_ST_N.htm

Control yourselves.

[hlthe2b]

1. three words: George W. Bush*

Yup, I could believe that. :evilgrin:

[RKP5637]

2. I feel better already!

:)

[darkstar3]

3. I recall that a similar study showed that hardcore conservatives have a larger amygdala.

I do wonder if those with a smaller hippocampus "make room", as it were, for a larger amygdala. Brain structure and chemistry explains another psychological trend...

[immoderate]

14. Those actually had a smaller anterior cingulate.

Apparently the anterior cingulate is the structure that make atheists so smart. :)


--imm

[jwirr]

4. Every muscle in the body shrinks if not used.

[laconicsax]

5. *psst*

The brain isn't a muscle. It's a bit like a muscle in some respects, but it isn't a muscle.

[provis99]

6. heh. about this part:

"Researchers speculate it may have something to do with the stress of belonging to a minority group. Chronic stress floods the brain with hormones that, over time, may damage the hippocampus.

Sociologists of religion, meanwhile, aren't buying it."

I don't buy it either. My own hypothesis is that stupid people are more likely to become born again Christians, since born again Christianity is the stupider version of Protestantism.

[cleanhippie]

7. Hat tip, Rug.

Thats a brave post. Well done.

[struggle4progress]

8. Remind me: what exactly does the hippocampus do?

[laconicsax]

9. Let's see...

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=What+does+the+hippocampus+do%3F

I think that should answer your question.

[struggle4progress]

10. Well, actually, I had already tried something like that and it didn't help a lot:

... The hippocampus is believed to be involved in memory and in navigation processes such as the ability to find new routes and identify short cuts ...
Study suggests reliance on GPS may reduce hippocampus function as we age
November 18, 2010 by Lin Edwards
http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-11-reliance-gps-hippocampus-function-age.html

... There continues to be some interest in hippocampal olfactory responses ... Over the years, three main ideas of hippocampal function have dominated the literature: inhibition, memory, and space ...
Hippocampus Functions
http://www.news-medical.net/health/Hippocampus-Functions.aspx

... the hippocampus is involved in explicit memory about emotional situations ...
Emotional memory
Joseph E. LeDoux (2007), Scholarpedia, 2(7):1806
http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Emotional_memory

So we're wandering off into the woozie land of the hippocampus is the part of the brain that's associated with stuff like smell and finding spatial shortcuts and remembering emotional events and all sorts of other stuff like that

But, thanks for your help, such as it was

:shrug:

[laconicsax]

18. The first result has some good information, complete with sources.

The hippocampus is a major component of the brains of humans and other mammals. It belongs to the limbic system and plays important roles in the consolidation of information from short-term memory to long-term memory and spatial navigation.

Is that not a good start for a satisfactory answer?

[MattSh]

11. I'm guessing they have something else that's smaller too...

How better to compensate for that shortcoming than to believe you are chosen by God!

[eppur_se_muova]

12. Which is cause, and which effect? nt

[randr]

13. It would make sense that the brain would shrink after being washed

[cleanhippie]

15. DUzy!!!!!!!

Thats fucking funny shit, right there!

[ZombieHorde]

16. I saw this article the other day, but I decided against posting it.

Better you than me.

[dmallind]

17. Well in sll honesty and easy jokes aside

I am not sure this tells us an awful lot about mental processes, and even the physiological divergence is not all that dramatic or universal, but my main question echoes those who asked about causal direction. Even assuming the hippocampus plays a relevant part in processes related to religion, does the brain variation cause religious choice or vice versa. After all even at the gross physical level the brain is extremely plastic.