But of course atheists can meditate. There's some question as to whether Zen (as opposed to Tibetan) Buddhists are theists.
On Jan 17, 2012, at 9:32 AM, Jeffry Ricker wrote: > Hi all, > > Thanks be to Zeus that I practice meditative prayer. > > Best, > Jeff > > ================== > > Is There a Difference between the Brain of an Atheist and the Brain of a > Religious Person? > By Andrew Newberg > > Researchers have pinpointed differences between the brains of believers and > nonbelievers, but the neural picture is not yet complete. > > Several studies have revealed that people who practice meditation or have > prayed for many years exhibit increased activity and have more brain tissue > in their frontal lobes, regions associated with attention and reward, as > compared with people who do not meditate or pray. A more recent study > revealed that people who have had “born again” experiences have a smaller > hippocampus, a part of the brain involved in emotions and memory, than > atheists do. These findings, however, are difficult to interpret because they > do not clarify whether having larger frontal lobes or a smaller hippocampus > causes a person to become more religious or whether being pious triggers > changes in these brain regions.... > > FULL TEXT AT: > http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=is-there-a-difference-between-the-brain Paul Brandon Emeritus Professor of Psychology Minnesota State University, Mankato [email protected] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=15384 or send a blank email to leave-15384-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
