Brain shuts off in response to healer's prayer

[Christa]

WHEN we fall under the spell of a charismatic figure, areas of the brain responsible for scepticism and vigilance become less active. That's the finding of a study which looked at people's response to prayers spoken by someone purportedly possessing divine healing powers.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627574.200-brain-shuts-off-in-response-to-healers-prayer.html?DCMP=NLC-nletter&nsref=mg20627574.200

[foxfeet]

1. Paris Hilton can heal? Who knew?

[veganlush]

4. hehehe..yes...especially in that ONE movie.....n/t

[Silent3]

5. No, no... the effect doesn't work when the person talking...

...shuts off their brain first.

[BrklynLiberal]

2. I would think the areas of the brain responsible for scepticism and vigilance would have to become a

lot less active BEFORE you even start believing in the healing power of some divine charismatic figure.

[veganlush]

3. it's god's will..n/t

[BadgerKid]

6. Possibly also doctors, parents and politicians.

I knew that last one was coming.

[frebrd]

7. No one would believe that someone "possessed divine healing powers"...

unless his/her brain was already turned off.

:shrug:

[Ichingcarpenter]

8. arts of the prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortices,

Parts of the prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortices, which play key roles in vigilance and scepticism when judging the truth and importance of what people say, were deactivated when the subjects listened to a supposed healer.

Interesting study, however I wished they looked at the electromagnetic field between the subjects more closer rather than they did with just the individually electromagnetic fields

The mind is not the brain and we can can do wondrous things with it
or remain in the matrix of Schrödinger's cat

[mike_c]

9. the mind is an emergent property of the brain....

I mean, what else is there? The rest of the CNS is mostly concerned with mechanistic stuff, processing afferent and efferent signals, and so on. No one seriously suggests that what we experience as "mind" resides anywhere other than the fore and mid-brain. Where else do you think it resides?

[darkstar3]

10. Oh, it's everywhere, didn't you know?

We're ALL pieces of the same "mind" man...

[Ichingcarpenter]

11. Well unfortunately our primitive sections still hold a lot of sway

Such as our primoral emotional functions that let's the higher functions of the brain be subservient to the latter.
Only the mind understands that battle be it, consciously or subconsciouslly

[dmallind]

14. It's probably quantum

It usually is.

[Duppers]

12. "The mind is not the brain" UH?

nt

[PassingFair]

13. The same thing happens to me when I look into the face of Russell Crowe.

I don't know why.

:P