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Neuroscience of Prayer: Current Research
James A. Van Slyke
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Prayer and the Reward Systems of
the Brain (Schjodt et. al. 2008)
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Research from the University of Aarhous, Denmark
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Participants
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Protestant Danish Christians
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20 participants (mean age 25.4)
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6 males
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14 females
Experimental Conditions
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Two Different forms of prayer analyzed
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Formal prayer (Ritualistic, scripted) = Lord’s Prayer
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Informal prayer (Low structure, improvised)
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Prayer and the Reward Systems of
the Brain (Schjodt et. al. 2008)
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Control Conditions
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Well known rhyme (Control formal)
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Asking for gifts from Santa Claus (Control informal)
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Baseline (Counting back from 100)
Procedure
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Each participant went through both the experimental and control
conditions
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Tasks were prompted by headphones and lasted 30 seconds
(repeated 6 times)
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Tasks were performed silently using internal speech
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Prayer and the Reward Systems of
the Brain (Schjodt et. al. 2008)
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During the Tasks brain activity was assess using fMRI
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MRI – Magentic resonance imaging
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Provides structural layout of the brain
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Similar to an X-ray
fMRI – (functional magnetic resonance imaging)
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Estimates areas of the brain active during a task
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BOLD response
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Measures the amount of blood oxygenation levels in the brain
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Higher oxygenation = higher levels of brain activity
+ Reward Systems of the Brain:
Striatum, Caudate Nucleus and
Putamen
Reward
Systems
of
the
Brain:
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Striatum, Caudate Nucleus and
Putamen
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Reward Systems both anticipate and estimate future rewards
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May be involved in both early and later stages of addiction
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May play a role in habitual behavior in terms of reward
Caudate Nucleus
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Instrumental conditioning
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Reward systems increase the likelihood of repeating certain
behaviors learned through experience
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Damage to this area may induce symptoms of Obsessive
Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
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OCD has been linked with increased activity in the caudate
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Prayer and the Reward Systems of
the Brain (Schjodt 2008)
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Hypothesis: Prayers will activate the reward systems of the
brain (Caudate nucleus)
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Results
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Both prayer conditions showed increased activity in the caudate
and decreased activity during controls
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Formal prayer showed a slightly higher activation
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Participants self-reported as strong believers
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Self-reported as involved in a weekly practice of prayer (Lord’s
prayer mean = 4.75; Personal prayer mean =19.75
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Social Cognition and Prayer
(Schjoedt et. al. 2009)
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Follow up analysis
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Used same set of experimental and control conditions
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Expanded fMRI analysis to include areas of the brain used in
social cognition
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Hypothesis: Personal (non-formal) prayer activates areas of
the brain used in social cognition
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Praying to God is an intersubjective experience similar to
general aspects of interpersonal interaction between
persons
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Understanding Social Cognition
Social and Affective Neuroscience
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Areas of the brain seem to be
specialized for dealing with social
relationships
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Emotional evaluation; Estimating
levels of trust
Areas of the brain from this study
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Precuneas
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Higher order cognitive functions
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Often involved in self-referential
behavior (information important
for the self
Schjodt et. al. interpretation
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Prayer involves information
important for the self (i.e. desires
or problems
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Understanding Social Cognition
 MPFC
(Medial
Prefrontal
Cortex)
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The Famous Case of Phineas
Gage
 Before
accident
 Intelligent
 capable
worker
 excellent manager
 responsible family man
 upstanding citizen
 After
Accident
 Maintained
his general intelligence
 Unreliable and capricious
 Socially Inappropriate
 Lost his family and fortune
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+ Case of Elliott
 Before
 good
husband and father
 high level job at business firm
 had attained an enviable social status
 Post
surgery, tumor removed in
orbital frontal area
 irresponsible
 unable
to manage his time
 flawed decision making
 Divorced; entered unwise marriage
 lost his job
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Case of Elliot
 Laboratory
 maintained
test results
superior IQ (WAIS)
 flawless memory
 superior language ability
 normal on lab tests of financial and ethical
decision making
 normal lab ability to generate solutions to social
problems
 Could predict social consequences
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Galvanic Skin Response
(Measures Moisture in skin)
Iowa Gambling Task
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Gambling game
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Test of decisions and consequences
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normal individuals develop anticipatory evaluative
autonomic response (mini emotional response)
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Elliot was never able to develop a discriminatory anticipation
while choosing from the bad decks
+ Follow up study to Elliott
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NORMALS
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In normal participants (no MPFC lesions), anticipatory skin conductive
responses (SCRs) occurred at around 20 deck choices when selecting from
the “bad” decks, despite participants not forming a conscious “hunch” until
around 50 selections.
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Generally by card 80, normal participants could articulate what was
occurring with respect to “good” decks and “bad” decks
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30 % did not have a conceptual understanding of the task but still made
advantageous decisions.
VMPFC LESION PARTICIPANTS
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The few participants who made it to the conceptualization phase still were
making disadvantageous decisions
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No anticipatory SCRs were experienced by any of the participants with
VMPFC damage
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Other regions of interest
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Temporopolar region
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Associated with autobiographical memory
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Processing of social narratives
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Personal prayer requires memory of how God has answered
prayers in the past (Schjoedt interpretation)
Temporo-parietal junction
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Analyzing behavior
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Processing social causation and goal attribution
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Praying to God may be a type of negotiation; hoping to change
God’s intentions toward a situation (Schjoedt interpretation)
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Findings
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For each one of the areas of the brain selected for analysis
there was a higher level of activation in relation to personal
prayer than the other conditions
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Theory of Mind
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Many of the areas investigated have also been linked with TOM
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TOM is the ability to understand the thoughts and intentions of
others (Mind-Reading)
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Important part of social life
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Deficit in persons with Autism
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Power of Charisma (2010)
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Participants (n=37)
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Males = 15
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Females = 22
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Christians = 18 (mean age 23)
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Pentecostal
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Frequent prayers (intercessory for 12 years; 33 times per
month)
Secular = 18 (mean age 26.4)
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No belief in God
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No belief in the effect of prayer
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Power of Charisma (2010)
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Procedure
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Participants listened to 18 different prayers performed by males
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Prayers were listed in three categories
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Non-Christian (6)
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Christian (6)
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Christian known for being able to heal through prayer (6)
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In reality all prayers were recorded by a single group of
Christians and than randomly assigned to each group
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Each prayer lasted 30 s
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Power of Charisma (2010)
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Results
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Christians rated speakers charisma and presence of God for all
three conditions
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Highest for “healing powers” lowest for “non-Christians”
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God was reported as present in all conditions
Non-Christians showed a similar but lower pattern for charisma,
but no real difference for experiencing God’s presence
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Power of Charisma (2010)
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Results
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Secular participants – no real difference in brain activation for the
three groups
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Christian groups
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Cascade effect from non-Christian (N-C) to healing powers
(HP) group
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Higher levels of activation for N-C and lower levels for
Christian and HP group
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Different areas of the brain – Prefrontal cortex; temporoparietal
junction; inferior temporal cortex; temporopolar/ orbitofrontal;
cerebellum
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Power of Charisma (2010)
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Discussion
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Watching pictures of loved ones can deactivate executive system
(Bartels and Zeki 2000; 2004)
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Could be neural subsystem involved in trust?
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Takes more cognitive power to override prayer given by NC
group
Schjoedt interpretation
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Intercessory prayer similar to hypnosis
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“Handing over” of executive function to the leader
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Power of prayer based on the perceived charismatic authority
of healer or leader (Max Weber 1922)
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Critiques (Spezio 2011)
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The problem of reverse inference
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Prayer activity linked with a brain area
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Other studies link the area with some function
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Thus, the same function is present in current study
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Without specific test in experiment for assumed function, it is
difficult to make causal interpretations
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Most areas of the brain participate in numerous overlapping
functions; difficult to limit areas of the brain to one function
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fMRI studies should be taken seriously, but still tentatively