Scientists Are Exploring The Human Cerebral Cortex

Scientists Are Exploring The Human Cerebral Cortex.
Higher levels of self-professed clerical view appear to be reflected in increased thickness of a key brain area, a recent study finds. Researchers at Columbia University in New York City found that the outer layer of the brain, known as the cortex, is thicker in some areas to each people who place a lot of significance on religion mobile. The learning involved 103 adults between the ages of 18 and 54 who were the children and grandchildren of both depressed investigation participants and those who were not depressed.

A team led by Lisa Miller analyzed how often the participants went to church and the invariable of importance they placed on religion. This assessment was made twice over the order of five years baraboo. Using MRI technology, the cortical thickness of the participants' brains was also solemn once.

The study, published Dec 25, 2013 in JAMA Psychiatry, revealed the point of religion or spirituality was linked with thicker cortices in certain parts of the brain. The accomplish was stronger among those at high genetic risk for depression than those at lower risk. This was distinctively evident in a part of the brain where a thinner cortex may be linked with a familial risk for developing depression, the researchers noted.

Although the substance of religion was tied with thicker cortices in some parts of the brain, the on showed the frequency of church attendance did not have the same association. This was true regardless of the participants' genetic jeopardize for depression continue. The findings only show an association between cortical thickness and religious belief "and therefore do not examine a causal association," the study authors stressed.