From their discussion:
"The findings of this study indicate that certain religious
factors may influence longitudinal change in hippocampal volume
during late life. Greater hippocampal atrophy over time was
predicted by baseline identification as born-again Protestants,
Catholics, or no religious affiliation, compared with Protestants
who were not born-again. Greater hippocampal atrophy was also
predicted by reports at baseline of having had life-changing
religious experiences."
Another classic confusion of prediction vs. causation.
Reporting a Life Changing Religious Experience predicted greater
amounts of atrophy.
No evidence of a causal relationship was presented. In fact,
their results argue against their speculative mechanism. They
suggest that the stress of being in a marginal religious group
produced the atrophy. But neither stress nor social support
(alleviator of stress) were significant predictors.
(Born-again Christians in the South are a marginal religious
group? Not in my neck of the woods.)
Ken
---------------------------------------------------------------
Kenneth M. Steele, Ph.D. [email protected]
Professor & Assistant Chairperson
Department of Psychology http://www.psych.appstate.edu
Appalachian State University
Boone, NC 28608
USA
---------------------------------------------------------------
On 6/26/2011 1:13 PM, Carol DeVolder wrote:
I'd love to hear others' take on this:
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0017006
It is an article in PloS One entitled Religious Factors and
Hippocampal Atrophy in Late Life.
Here's the abstract:
Despite a growing interest in the ways spiritual beliefs and
practices are reflected in brain activity, there have been
relatively few studies using neuroimaging data to assess
potential relationships between religious factors and structural
neuroanatomy. This study examined prospective relationships
between religious factors and hippocampal volume change using
high-resolution MRI data of a sample of 268 older adults.
Religious factors assessed included life-changing religious
experiences, spiritual practices, and religious group membership.
Hippocampal volumes were analyzed using the GRID program, which
is based on a manual point-counting method and allows for
semi-automated determination of region of interest volumes.
Significantly greater hippocampal atrophy was observed for
participants reporting a life-changing religious experience.
Significantly greater hippocampal atrophy was also observed from
baseline to final assessment among born-again Protestants,
Catholics, and those with no religious affiliation, compared with
Protestants not identifying as born-again. These associations
were not explained by psychosocial or demographic factors, or
baseline cerebral volume. Hippocampal volume has been linked to
clinical outcomes, such as depression, dementia, and Alzheimer's
Disease. The findings of this study indicate that hippocampal
atrophy in late life may be uniquely influenced by certain types
of religious factors.
Carol
--
Carol DeVolder, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair, Department of Psychology
St. Ambrose University
518 West Locust Street
Davenport, Iowa 52803
563-333-6482
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