How God Changes Your Brain
Breakthrough Findings from a Leading Neuroscientist
New York : Ballantine Books, ©2009.
Format: Book
Edition: 1st ed.
Description: xii, 348 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
From the Publisher: God is great-for your mental, physical, and spiritual health. Based on new evidence culled from brain-scan studies, a wide-reaching survey of people's religious and spiritual experiences, and the authors' analyses of adult drawings of God, neuroscientist Andrew Newberg and therapist Mark Robert Waldman offer the following breakthrough discoveries: Not only do prayer and spiritual practice reduce stress, but just twelve minutes of meditation per day may slow down the aging process. Contemplating a loving God rather than a punitive God reduces anxiety and depression and increases feelings of security, compassion, and love. Fundamentalism, in and of itself, can be personally beneficial, but the prejudice generated by extreme beliefs can permanently damage your brain. Intense prayer and meditation permanently change numerous structures and functions in the brain, altering your values and the way you perceive reality. Both a revelatory work of modern science and a practical guide for readers to enhance their physical and emotional health, How God Changes Your Brain is a first-of-a-kind book about faith that is as credible as it is inspiring.
Contents:
Author's note -- Part 1: Religion And The Human Brain -- 1. Who cares about God? : prelude to a neurological and spiritual revolution -- 2. Do you even need God when you pray? : meditation, memory, and the aging brain -- 3. What does God do to your brain? : neural varieties of spiritual practice -- Part 2: Neural Evolution And God -- 4. What does God feel like? : varieties of spiritual experience -- 5. What does God look like? : imagination, creativity, and the visual representation of spirituality -- 6. Does God have a heart? : compassion, mysticism, and the spiritual personalities of the brain -- 7. What happens when God gets mad? : anger, fear, and the fundamentalist in our brain -- Part 3: Transforming Your Inner Reality -- 8. Exercising your brain : eight ways to enhance your physical, mental, and spiritual health -- 9. Finding serenity : meditation, intention, relaxation, and awareness -- 10. Compassionate communication : dialogue, intimacy, and conflict transformation -- Epilogue: Is God real? : personal reflection.
Subjects:
Spirituality.
Neuropsychology.
Neurosciences -- Religious aspects.
Psychology and religion.
Spirituality.
Neuropsychology.
Neurosciences -- Religious aspects.
Psychology and religion.
ISBN:
9780345503411
Availability | |||
---|---|---|---|
Call Number | Location | Shelf Location | Status |
RELIGION Spirituality New | Cooper (Forest Acres) | Nonfiction | Out (Due: 5/4/2024) |
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Includes bibliographical references (pages 259-333) and index.