Scientists Are Exploring The Human Cerebral Cortex

Scientists Are Exploring The Human Cerebral Cortex.
Higher levels of self-professed sacred trust appear to be reflected in increased thickness of a key brain area, a renewed study finds. Researchers at Columbia University in New York City found that the outer layer of the brain, known as the cortex, is thicker in some areas surrounded by people who place a lot of significance on religion. The reflect on involved 103 adults between the ages of 18 and 54 who were the children and grandchildren of both depressed exploration participants and those who were not depressed.

A team led by Lisa Miller analyzed how often the participants went to church and the unalterable of importance they placed on religion. This assessment was made twice over the ambit of five years. Using MRI technology, the cortical thickness of the participants' brains was also even once.

The study, published Dec 25, 2013 in JAMA Psychiatry, revealed the importance of religion or spirituality was linked with thicker cortices in certain parts of the brain. The impact was stronger among those at high genetic risk for depression than those at lower risk. This was in particular evident in a part of the brain where a thinner cortex may be linked with a familial risk for developing depression, the researchers noted.

Although the esteem of religion was tied with thicker cortices in some parts of the brain, the read showed the frequency of church attendance did not have the same association. This was true regardless of the participants' genetic imperil for depression scriptovore.com. The findings only show an association between cortical thickness and religious belief "and therefore do not show a causal association," the study authors stressed.