Praying Is Similar to Talking to a Good Friend

Danish researchers from the University of Aarhus, led by expert Uffe Schjodt, found in a recent study that people praying to their gods actually show no signs of “anything mystical” in their brains while doing so. During the experiments, which involved 20 devout Christian volunteers, the subjects' brain activity was measured using a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine, which allowed the researchers to observe exactly which areas of their brains were activated during prayer.

The experiment was divided into two sections, in that the participants were also asked to recite nursery rhymes, in addition to their prayers. Their brain activities were recorded in both circumstances, and the experts learned that the same regions of the brain that were activated when talking to a friend were set off.

The most intensely activated portions were those regularly associated with rehearsal and repetition, regardless of whether the test subjects were saying a given prayer or reciting the rhymes.

In a second experiment, rather than giving people a pre-defined prayer, the experts asked each of the participants to “improvise” and say one from the heart. When they did that, different areas of their brain were activated, but this time some associated with inter-human communication. In other words, people's brains were convinced that they were talking to someone.

This was further evidenced by the fact that the theory of mind was also identified, which is a term describing the awareness that people have of the fact that others have motivations and intentions too.

Areas of the prefrontal cortex were also activated, and brain experts know that these portions of the brain usually engage when people try to access memories of a certain person they've met before. In addition, the scans revealed that those praying did not expect any kind of reciprocity in their dialog. By comparison, when the individuals were asked to talk to Santa and request a present, the prefrontal cortex did not engage, suggesting that they did not believe he was real.

“The brain doesn't activate these areas because they don't expect reciprocity, nor find it necessary to think about the computer's intentions,” Schjodt is quoted as saying by NewScientist. He adds that most of those involved in the studies have had the idea that God is real, and that Santa Claus is not. However, University of Oxford expert Robin Dunba points out that the study “has nothing to do with whether God exists or not, only with subjects' beliefs about whether God exists.”