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Saturday, May 13th, 2017

Study finds link between brain damage and religious fundamentalism

Author:     Bobby Azarian
Source:     The Raw Story/Neuropsychologia
Publication Date:     12 May 2017 at 11:02 ET
 Link: Study finds link between brain damage and religious fundamentalism
Stephan:   There is a growing body of evidence showing that there are neurophysiological factors that account for fundamentalist religiosity and conservative political affiliations. I have published before on the relationship of an overactive right amygdala with conservative political and religious views, and an inability to think rationally. This is further supported by the fact that whatever  the flavor of religious fundamentalism -- Christian, Muslim, Jew or whatever -- the same four psychological attributes define it: 1) A sense of persecution and grievance; 2) A sense of self-righteous superiority and specialness; 3) sexual dysfunction; 4) An obsessive desire to dominate and make subordinate anyone with a vagina. The fact that these views are present regardless of religious dogma suggests that these perspectives arise not from religion but from psychophysical considerations. Religion is simply the justifying context through which such views are expressed. Now we have a new study giving another dimension to this syndrome. Citation: Zhong W, Cristofori I, Bulbulia J, Krueger F, Grafman J. Biological and cognitive underpinnings of religious fundamentalism. Neuropsychologia. 2017 Apr 6;100:18-25. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.04.009.

Angry Christian preacher

A new study published in the journal Neuropsychologia has shown that religious fundamentalism is, in part, the result of a functional impairment in a brain region known as the prefrontal cortex. The findings suggest that damage to particular areas of the prefrontal cortex indirectly promotes religious fundamentalism by diminishing cognitive flexibility and openness—a psychology term that describes a personality trait which involves dimensions like curiosity, creativity, and open-mindedness.

Religious beliefs can be thought of as socially transmitted mental representations that consist of supernatural events and entities assumed to be real. Religious beliefs differ from empirical beliefs, which are based on how the world appears to be and are updated as new evidence accumulates or when new theories with better predictive power emerge. On the other hand, religious beliefs are not usually updated in response to new evidence or scientific explanations, and are therefore strongly associated with conservatism. They are fixed and rigid, which helps promote predictability and coherence to the rules of society among individuals within the group.

Religious fundamentalism refers […]

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3 Comments

  1. sam crespi on Saturday, May 13, 2017 at 8:21 am

    I also see this in a simpler way, based on non violent conflict resolution training. There are basic needs and wants that support and nourish the fundamentalist mindset. And there are ways to break thru when engaging with these kinds of people. It isn’t easy. It requires focus, patience and courage and training. There is a smattering of schools (elementary, high school and college level) that have begun to explore this. The military is using these techniques as well as well as non violent peacekeepers and community leaders.

    • cenvy on Saturday, May 13, 2017 at 9:10 am

      Can you provide a link? I’m interested in learning more.

      • Stephan Schwartz on Monday, May 15, 2017 at 1:08 am

        There is a link in the first line of the text. Also see Academia.edu and search on my name, for further papers.