Being 'Born-Again' Linked to More Brain Atrophy: Study

philly.com ^ | 2012-03-20 | Mary Elizabeth Dallas

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

WEDNESDAY, May 25 (HealthDay News) -- Older adults who say they've had a life-changing religious experience are more likely to have a greater decrease in size of the hippocampus, the part of the brain critical to learning and memory, new research finds.

...or conversely, those who had no religious affiliation, had more hippocampal shrinkage (or "atrophy") compared to people who identified themselves as Protestants, but not born-again.

...SOURCE: Duke University, news release, May 19, 2011

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

Notice how even though this "study" implicates both religious and non-religious, the headline writer chooses only the part about the "born again" having "brain atrophy".

[TigersEye]

Both groups had "more" shrinkage. More than who it doesn't say.

No one had as much hippocampal shrinkage as the authors of this study.

[RightOnline]

Translation: If you’re born again, you’re stooooooopid.

God save us from these a**holes.

[BigSkyFreeper]

IOW, if you’re “born again”, you’re brain dead. There’s no low these God-hating leftist won’t stoop to.

[mosesdapoet]

Our tax money at work against US Investigate this grant

[bkopto]

Hardy-har-har!

(We’ll see if the secular leftists are still laughing when the Day of the Lord arrives.)

[piytar]

I pity and would save them if I could, for their tears will last FOREVER.

[Seeing More Clearly Now]

Did you know there’s a National Lesbian and Gay Journalists’ Association with chapters all over the country? Once you understand this, you’ll better understand what is deemed news in today’s media. http://www.nlgja.org/

[knarf]

"Older adults who say they've had a life-changing religious experience are more likely to have a greater decrease in size of the hippocampus, the part of the brain critical to learning and memory, new research finds."

This is delicious;

First, an "older adult" generally has the time to think and reflect about his or her life and quite often concludes a percentage of it was not necesarilly conducive to good living, but to living (the) good (life).

We chase dreams which cost money which requires a job or skill which in turn is not always in harmony with good living but needed to accomplish the 'living good'

Empirically, I find within myself the sloughing off of excess mental baggage for the more intimate and meaningful thought patterns of a relationship with God .. sometimes a not so very easy excersize.

Consider Romans, chapter 6.

No, I won't quote it it, nor will I expound on it.

I'm not even going to say any more in this reply.

Consider Romans, chapter 6

[FairWitness]

Modern phrenology at work.

[BigCinBigD]

Im not surprised.

[skr]

The authors left out the financial status in their demographics, which is interesting since another study at PLoS ONE indicated that poorer people have more hippcampal atrophy than richer people, also due to stress. The results could easily be skewed if the born-again group were also the generally poorer of all the others.

[skr]

hippocampal, not hippcampal

[mountn man]

I'm not adoctor, but I do know that neural pathways can grow with usage. I also know that certain parts of the brain control certain motor functions, or memories or thought processes.

I remember hearing something years back that gays had an enlarged area of the brain, ie thats why they were the way they were.

Whats not to say that this area of the brain for gays or the area mentioned in this article are not areas where certain types of thought patterns are located. The more one dwells on a subject, the stronger ones thoughts get, the more those neural pathways grow, enlarging that area.

The Bible tells us that man has a sin nature, and the more we satisfy that nature, the easier sin becomes for us. It only makes sense that certain areas of our brain responds to certain types of thoughts or actions. As Christians view certain thoughts or actions as Sin, and try to change their behavior, its only natural that certain areas would grow with more usage and other areas atrophy.

[aruanan]

Both groups had "more" shrinkage. More than who it doesn't say.

Let's look at the excerpt below and see what it tells us about who is relative to whom in hippocampal shrinkage:

...or conversely, those who had no religious affiliation, had more hippocampal shrinkage (or "atrophy") compared to people who identified themselves as Protestants, but not born-again.

More hippocampal shrinkage <----> less hippocampal shrinkage

"born again" had more shrinkage than "no religious affiliation" that had at least the same or less shrinkage than "born again," but more shrinkage than self-identified "Protestants"

[Pat4ever]

Whoever paid for this study should demand their funding back. It is either lousy reporting, junk research or both.

[The_Media_never_lie]

In order to create a study such as this, first the author started with a premise, and then he looked for scientific evidence to back it up.

Pseudoscience.

[mikec256]

I think the scriptures teach “the flesh profiteth nothing, it is the spirit that quickeneth or make alive”. The flesh is never changed (which I think would include the brain), but when we hear and believe and are saved, God’s Holy Spirit comes and dwells in us.