Brain networks involved in the influence of religion on empathy in male Vietnam War veterans

Abstract Humans all over the world believe in spirits and deities, yet how the brain supports religious cognition remains unclear. Drawing on a unique sample of patients with penetrating traumatic brain injuries (pTBI) and matched healthy controls (HCs) we investigate dependencies of religious cogni...

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Autores principales:	Irene Cristofori, Wanting Zhong, Shira Cohen-Zimerman, Joseph Bulbulia, Barry Gordon, Frank Krueger, Jordan Grafman
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/5d04684bda204abba5dcecd0a56115fb
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:5d04684bda204abba5dcecd0a56115fb2021-12-02T15:49:53ZBrain networks involved in the influence of religion on empathy in male Vietnam War veterans10.1038/s41598-021-90481-32045-2322https://doaj.org/article/5d04684bda204abba5dcecd0a56115fb2021-05-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-90481-3https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Humans all over the world believe in spirits and deities, yet how the brain supports religious cognition remains unclear. Drawing on a unique sample of patients with penetrating traumatic brain injuries (pTBI) and matched healthy controls (HCs) we investigate dependencies of religious cognition on neural networks that represent (1) others agents’ intentions (Theory of Mind, ToM) and (2) other agents’ feelings (Empathy). Extending previous observations that ToM networks are recruited during prayer, we find that people with vmPFC damage report higher scores on the personal relationship with God inventory even when they are not praying. This result offers evidence that it is the modulation of ToM networks that support beliefs in supernatural agents. With respect to empathetic processing, we observed that vmPFC and pSTS/TPJ lesions mediated by the strength of the personal relationship with God affect empathetic responses. We suggest that the neurological networks underpinning God representations amplify human empathetic responses. The cultural evolutionary study of religion has argued that supernatural beliefs evoke pro-social responses because people fear the wrath of Gods. Our findings imply greater attention should be paid to the mechanisms by which religious cognition may regulate empathetic responses to others.Irene CristoforiWanting ZhongShira Cohen-ZimermanJoseph BulbuliaBarry GordonFrank KruegerJordan GrafmanNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-13 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Irene Cristofori Wanting Zhong Shira Cohen-Zimerman Joseph Bulbulia Barry Gordon Frank Krueger Jordan Grafman Brain networks involved in the influence of religion on empathy in male Vietnam War veterans
description	Abstract Humans all over the world believe in spirits and deities, yet how the brain supports religious cognition remains unclear. Drawing on a unique sample of patients with penetrating traumatic brain injuries (pTBI) and matched healthy controls (HCs) we investigate dependencies of religious cognition on neural networks that represent (1) others agents’ intentions (Theory of Mind, ToM) and (2) other agents’ feelings (Empathy). Extending previous observations that ToM networks are recruited during prayer, we find that people with vmPFC damage report higher scores on the personal relationship with God inventory even when they are not praying. This result offers evidence that it is the modulation of ToM networks that support beliefs in supernatural agents. With respect to empathetic processing, we observed that vmPFC and pSTS/TPJ lesions mediated by the strength of the personal relationship with God affect empathetic responses. We suggest that the neurological networks underpinning God representations amplify human empathetic responses. The cultural evolutionary study of religion has argued that supernatural beliefs evoke pro-social responses because people fear the wrath of Gods. Our findings imply greater attention should be paid to the mechanisms by which religious cognition may regulate empathetic responses to others.
format	article
author	Irene Cristofori Wanting Zhong Shira Cohen-Zimerman Joseph Bulbulia Barry Gordon Frank Krueger Jordan Grafman
author_facet	Irene Cristofori Wanting Zhong Shira Cohen-Zimerman Joseph Bulbulia Barry Gordon Frank Krueger Jordan Grafman
author_sort	Irene Cristofori
title	Brain networks involved in the influence of religion on empathy in male Vietnam War veterans
title_short	Brain networks involved in the influence of religion on empathy in male Vietnam War veterans
title_full	Brain networks involved in the influence of religion on empathy in male Vietnam War veterans
title_fullStr	Brain networks involved in the influence of religion on empathy in male Vietnam War veterans
title_full_unstemmed	Brain networks involved in the influence of religion on empathy in male Vietnam War veterans
title_sort	brain networks involved in the influence of religion on empathy in male vietnam war veterans
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/5d04684bda204abba5dcecd0a56115fb
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Brain networks involved in the influence of religion on empathy in male Vietnam War veterans

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