I just got this from the Duke Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health.
This study is saying that maybe, possibly, it seems like, your cortex gets thicker when you are actively participating in spiritual practice and community.
Which…is huge. Cortical thickness means that you have better executive function – you can better self-regulate. This is what Richard Davidson was measuring at the University of Wisconsin when he did that famous (at least to yoga peeps) research with the Tibetan monks. What this latest study means is that if you are at risk for depression, but you practice and engage in spirituality, you may (but we’re talking about researchers here so we are super conservative about making superlative, yoga-like statements, folks) you may have a better chance of not developing depression.
What’s also interesting is that the center (and I’m assuming this is coming from Harold Koenig) are saying that this is seminal research – and it will form the basis for research for years to come. Pretty cool Duke.
Read the full article here:
Neuroanatomical Correlates of Religiosity in Depression – original
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