Going to church could be more fun than you think: Religion stimulates the brain like sex, drugs and rock and roll

It may seem that on the face of it, religion has little in common with drugs, sex and rock and roll.

But religious and spiritual experiences activate the brain reward circuits in the same way as more hedonistic pursuits such as taking drugs, gambling and listening to music, according to a new study.

Researchers found spiritual feelings stimulated the nucleus accumbens – a brain region associated with processing reward and which is known to play a role in addiction.

Several brain regions become active when devoutly religious study participants reported having a spiritual experience, including the nucleus accumbens - the part of the brain associated with processing rewards.

HOW THE STUDY WORKED 

Participants comprised 19 young adult church members - all devout Mormons.

The volunteers all undertook four tasks designed to evoke spiritual feelings, while their brains were monitored by an fMRI scanner.

The hour-long session included resting, as well as watching control and stimulating religious videos.

During the quotations part of the experiment, the participants were asked ‘Are you feeling the spirit’ and were asked to gauge their response from ‘not feeling’ to ‘very strongly feeling’. 

The volunteers reported feeling peaceful and warm inside and some were in tears by the end of the scan when they felt a peak spiritual feeling when watching the ‘stimulating’ church video. 

Based on fMRI scans, the researchers found that powerful spiritual feelings were associated with activity in the area of the brain associated with processing reward. 

Researchers at the University of Utah School of Medicine, set out to determine which brain networks are involved in representing spiritual feelings in one group - devout Mormons - by creating an environment that triggered participants to ‘feel the spirit.’

The team performed fMRI scans on 19 young adult church members while the volunteers performed four tasks to try and evoke spiritual feelings, as part of the ‘Religious Brain Project’.

The hour-long session included resting, watching control and stimulating religious videos, including a video of Biblical scenes, quotations by Mormon and other religious leaders, the reading of familiar passages from The Book of Mormon and eight minutes of quotations.

During the quotations part of the experiment, the participants were asked ‘Are you feeling the spirit’ and were asked to gauge their response from ‘not feeling’ to ‘very strongly feeling’. 

The volunteers reported feeling peaceful and warm inside and some were in tears by the end of the scan when they felt a peak spiritual feeling when watching the ‘stimulating’ church video.

‘When our study participants were instructed to think about a saviour, about being with their families for eternity, about their heavenly rewards, their brains and bodies physically responded,’ said lead author Michael Ferguson, a bioengineering graduate student at the University of Utah.

Based on fMRI scans, the researchers found that powerful spiritual feelings were associated with activity in the area of the brain associated with processing reward.

This brain region is also known to play a role in addiction.

It has previously been found to be activated by taking euphoriant drugs such as amphetamines and by participating in rewarding experiences including music, sex and exercise.

The researchers used fMRI scans recorded brain activity as devoutly religious study participants read quotes from spiritual leaders or watched religious imagery.

As this brain region ‘lit up’ in the experiment, volunteers experienced 'peak' feelings.

Their hearts beat faster and their breathing deepened, according to the study, published in the journal Social Neuroscience.

In addition to the brain's reward circuits, the researchers found that spiritual feelings were associated with the medial prefrontal cortex.

This complex region of the brain region is activated by tasks involving valuation, judgement and moral reasoning.

Researchers set out to determine which brain networks are involved in representing spiritual feelings in one group - devout Mormons - by creating an environment that triggered participants to ‘feel the spirit.’ Pictured is an actor from the satirical 'Book of Mormon' musical.

Spiritual feelings also activated brain regions associated with focused attention.

Senior author and neuroradiologist Jeff Anderson said: ‘Religious experience is perhaps the most influential part of how people make decisions that affect all of us, for good and for ill.

‘Understanding what happens in the brain to contribute to those decisions is really important.’

He said it is not known whether believers of other religions would respond the same way.