0:00:10.160,0:00:12.959 This is your brain on God. 0:00:12.959,0:00:14.359 (Laughter) 0:00:15.519,0:00:18.720 As a graduate student[br]here at the University of Utah, 0:00:18.720,0:00:22.870 my team and I had the opportunity[br]to look inside the brains 0:00:23.282,0:00:26.860 of believing Latter-day Saints,[br]also known as Mormons, 0:00:26.860,0:00:29.790 when they were praying,[br]reading scriptures 0:00:30.413,0:00:33.930 and watching videos[br]of the religious leaders' teaching. 0:00:34.948,0:00:39.420 Being based in Salt Lake City, Utah,[br]Mormons are not in short supply. 0:00:39.420,0:00:40.940 (Laughter) 0:00:40.940,0:00:45.320 We recruited through the Deseret News,[br]the LDS Church-owned newspaper, 0:00:45.739,0:00:48.448 and invited devout members[br]of the religious community 0:00:48.448,0:00:51.584 to participate in psychometric testing 0:00:51.584,0:00:54.596 and functional magnetic[br]resonance imaging, 0:00:54.600,0:00:56.214 or fMRI. 0:00:57.949,0:01:01.168 fMRI is a wonderful scientific tool. 0:01:01.668,0:01:06.290 It allows us to measure tiny fluctuations[br]in oxygenated blood flow 0:01:06.603,0:01:09.610 that correspond[br]to neural changes in activity. 0:01:11.040,0:01:13.646 While our participants were[br]inside of the scanner, 0:01:13.982,0:01:16.370 they had a button box[br]attached to their chest 0:01:16.751,0:01:20.930 so that they could press a button[br]and indicate to us in real-time 0:01:20.950,0:01:23.571 when they were feeling the Spirit. 0:01:24.170,0:01:25.987 It's a cultural phenomenon 0:01:25.994,0:01:28.920 that's a central, epistemological event 0:01:28.920,0:01:32.590 significant to the truth claims[br]of the Mormon religion. 0:01:34.679,0:01:38.970 What we observed was[br]that across all task conditions, 0:01:39.280,0:01:41.214 the three areas of the brain 0:01:41.214,0:01:44.599 that consistently demonstrated[br]elevated activity 0:01:45.779,0:01:48.193 were the frontal attention regions, 0:01:49.380,0:01:51.684 the medial prefrontal cortex 0:01:53.031,0:01:54.689 and the nucleus accumbens - 0:01:54.983,0:01:56.444 an area of the brain 0:01:56.444,0:02:00.570 with an enriched supply[br]of the reward molecule, dopamine. 0:02:02.390,0:02:06.147 Far from just being a high tech blobology, 0:02:06.636,0:02:11.559 this Trinity of neural regions[br]sketches what we can reasonably label 0:02:11.559,0:02:15.230 as the neuro spiritual[br]system of Mormonism. 0:02:16.120,0:02:21.450 The implications are profound,[br]both for culture and for the brain. 0:02:22.870,0:02:25.950 One of the first questions[br]that comes to mind for me is, 0:02:25.950,0:02:29.080 "Does this neuro spiritual[br]system from Mormonism 0:02:29.386,0:02:33.340 map into the brains of religious[br]individuals from other faith traditions 0:02:33.420,0:02:37.706 when they are having[br]peak, ecstatic religious experiences?" 0:02:38.917,0:02:41.885 So many of the world's[br]spiritual traditions 0:02:41.885,0:02:46.950 report profound feelings of oneness[br]with a transcendent source, 0:02:47.420,0:02:51.260 often accompanied by an[br]increased charitable disposition. 0:02:52.647,0:02:56.100 Could it be that these cultural variations 0:02:56.100,0:02:59.729 are all being supported[br]by a common core of brain networks? 0:03:01.160,0:03:05.045 For the first time in the history[br]of contemplative philosophy 0:03:05.045,0:03:06.920 and the sciences of the mind, 0:03:07.248,0:03:12.920 we can answer these questions empirically[br]by skillfully measuring brain activity 0:03:13.240,0:03:18.230 with more temporal and spatial precision[br]than we've ever been able to do 0:03:18.250,0:03:21.402 even in the recent past of neuroscience. 0:03:21.900,0:03:24.680 This is an exciting time[br]to be a brain researcher. 0:03:25.430,0:03:28.084 Let's talk about the word[br]"God" for a moment. 0:03:28.760,0:03:31.956 It's a simple three-letter[br]word in English, 0:03:32.340,0:03:37.609 yet this one word is so powerful,[br]linguistically and psychologically, 0:03:37.950,0:03:41.010 that it is used to invoke[br]military courage, 0:03:41.380,0:03:44.070 to promote feelings of nationalism, 0:03:44.610,0:03:48.890 and even to justify war and atrocity. 0:03:50.250,0:03:55.240 The hypothetical omission of this one word[br]by a president of the United States, 0:03:55.360,0:03:59.753 the failure to simply say[br]"God bless America," 0:04:00.137,0:04:03.980 would likely cause their public[br]approval ratings to plummet. 0:04:05.180,0:04:07.369 Whatever your metaphysical beliefs are, 0:04:07.369,0:04:13.360 the literal fact is that the trajectories[br]of lives and nations 0:04:13.360,0:04:16.102 swing on the hinge[br]of this one word: 0:04:17.070,0:04:18.400 "God." 0:04:20.220,0:04:24.359 To think about God, either[br]through construction or negation, 0:04:25.350,0:04:27.790 you have to deploy abstract reasoning. 0:04:28.450,0:04:31.410 The very principles[br]that are intrinsically bound up 0:04:31.410,0:04:34.847 in any conceivable definition[br]of the word "God" 0:04:35.151,0:04:38.800 include elements[br]of mystery and unknowing. 0:04:39.580,0:04:42.581 These very types of abstract principles 0:04:42.587,0:04:47.330 are precisely what land us[br]in the prefrontal cortex of the brain. 0:04:48.040,0:04:51.013 I have to step back and think[br]about this sometimes, 0:04:51.016,0:04:54.260 that we have inside the bones of our head 0:04:54.613,0:04:56.863 an electrical piece of meat 0:04:57.210,0:04:58.903 (Laughter) 0:04:59.256,0:05:03.520 that's generating abstract ideas[br]about divine nature. 0:05:06.792,0:05:10.882 The nucleus accumbens is located[br]a little bit lower in the brain, 0:05:10.883,0:05:12.965 in a region called the subcortex. 0:05:13.785,0:05:17.400 The subcortex is more ancient[br]than the prefrontal cortex 0:05:17.450,0:05:21.510 in terms of the evolutionary[br]time spans for its development. 0:05:22.060,0:05:25.480 The nucleus accumbens[br]is the brains' pleasure center. 0:05:26.060,0:05:30.425 It helps positively reinforce[br]environments and behaviors 0:05:30.642,0:05:32.010 that are rewarding to you 0:05:32.030,0:05:34.150 and that are beneficial to you. 0:05:35.000,0:05:38.150 I have to smile when I think[br]about how in the New Testament, 0:05:38.610,0:05:41.020 when Jesus describes heavenly rewards, 0:05:41.783,0:05:47.450 we are illuminating the biological[br]embodiment of these ancient metaphors. 0:05:49.290,0:05:53.690 When our study participants were[br]instructed to think about a savior, 0:05:54.387,0:05:57.370 about being with their[br]families for eternity, 0:05:58.000,0:06:02.175 in short, when they were thinking[br]about their heavenly rewards 0:06:02.175,0:06:03.816 as they imagined them, 0:06:03.825,0:06:07.795 the brains and their[br]bodies physically respond. 0:06:09.805,0:06:13.380 A classic hymn in the religious[br]movement of Joseph Smith 0:06:13.400,0:06:16.935 describes the Spirit of God[br]like a fire burning. 0:06:17.419,0:06:19.362 If you haven't ever felt it before, 0:06:19.365,0:06:21.918 it's actually a wonderful warm glow. 0:06:21.918,0:06:24.960 It makes you want to do good and be good. 0:06:25.846,0:06:27.071 It may be the emotion 0:06:27.075,0:06:31.925 that moral psychologist [br]Jonathan Hite refers to as elevation. 0:06:34.785,0:06:36.451 The frontal attention regions 0:06:36.451,0:06:39.870 are probably acting in concert[br]with the nucleus accumbens 0:06:39.870,0:06:44.979 in order to amplify the phenomenal[br]content of this religious experience. 0:06:45.029,0:06:48.309 This so is an area where we will[br]continue to do extended research 0:06:48.747,0:06:52.379 in order to better understand[br]the dynamics of this neural system 0:06:52.798,0:06:55.559 as it interacts with religious psychology. 0:06:59.169,0:07:03.221 In addition to the biology that supports[br]ecstatic religious experience, 0:07:03.234,0:07:04.471 we were also curious 0:07:04.474,0:07:08.839 about how social behavior[br]is influenced by the brain on God. 0:07:10.209,0:07:14.571 One possibility that we considered[br]is that perhaps our study participants 0:07:14.577,0:07:18.364 would demonstrate[br]an in-group authority bias 0:07:18.364,0:07:19.770 if they were asked to compare 0:07:19.770,0:07:22.599 the teachings of their[br]own religious leaders 0:07:22.599,0:07:25.449 with the teachings[br]from other faith traditions. 0:07:26.289,0:07:28.701 We designed a spiritual quotation's task 0:07:29.239,0:07:32.749 in which participants were presented[br]with a spiritual teaching, 0:07:33.019,0:07:34.371 and next to it, 0:07:34.371,0:07:36.904 with a picture of the person[br]who made the statement. 0:07:37.509,0:07:40.929 They were then asked to rate[br]how meaningful the teaching was 0:07:41.499,0:07:46.669 and also how strongly they felt[br]the Spirit in response to that teaching. 0:07:48.722,0:07:50.634 Sources for these teachings 0:07:50.634,0:07:53.635 were either from an in-group[br]religious authority figure, 0:07:53.932,0:07:57.299 in the case of our study, [br]those included two Mormon apostles, 0:07:57.756,0:08:00.279 Diederich Dorf and Jeffrey Holland, 0:08:00.507,0:08:03.359 and the president of the LDS Church[br]at the time of the study, 0:08:03.359,0:08:04.877 Thomas Monson. 0:08:06.334,0:08:07.873 The out-group religious figures 0:08:07.874,0:08:13.119 included Pope Francis,[br]Desmond Tutu and Billy Graham, 0:08:13.489,0:08:16.474 three non-Mormon Christian leaders. 0:08:17.294,0:08:19.329 Because this was an experiment though, 0:08:19.839,0:08:22.109 we threw in a little bit of a twist. 0:08:22.439,0:08:26.819 It turns out that none of the teachings[br]were from their attributed sources. 0:08:26.819,0:08:27.969 (Laughter) 0:08:30.049,0:08:33.854 We collected quotations[br]from the writings of C.S. Lewis. 0:08:33.854,0:08:36.610 (Laughter) (Cheers) 0:08:41.060,0:08:45.210 He's sometimes referred to[br]in Mormonism as a 13th apostle. 0:08:46.530,0:08:50.342 We randomized these teachings[br]across all of the trials. 0:08:50.640,0:08:53.820 And we asked the participants[br]to rank how meaningful they were, 0:08:53.820,0:08:55.875 how strongly they felt the Spirit, 0:08:55.875,0:08:58.767 and what we saw was so beautiful 0:08:58.767,0:09:01.559 from the point of view[br]of cognitive science. 0:09:02.569,0:09:07.241 Believing Mormons consistently[br]ranked the teachings of their own leaders 0:09:07.600,0:09:11.070 as more meaningful[br]and as more spiritually evocative 0:09:11.448,0:09:13.971 than the teachings[br]of out-group authority figures 0:09:14.189,0:09:17.700 even though in reality,[br]they were all from the same source. 0:09:20.021,0:09:21.375 To further explore the way 0:09:21.375,0:09:24.950 that social behavior is influenced[br]by the brain on God, 0:09:24.950,0:09:28.450 we had our participants[br]complete this task twice: 0:09:28.450,0:09:30.920 once at the beginning[br]of their study session, 0:09:30.940,0:09:34.640 and a second time, following[br]a 30-minute period of prayer, 0:09:34.909,0:09:37.650 of scripture study[br]and of religious devotion. 0:09:39.050,0:09:41.866 This now is the[br]audience-participation moment. 0:09:41.866,0:09:43.325 It's always fun to see 0:09:43.325,0:09:48.610 what people guess the effects of feeling[br]the Spirit are on social judgments. 0:09:49.377,0:09:50.805 So, option number one 0:09:50.805,0:09:54.110 is that after a 30-minute period[br]of prayer and scripture study 0:09:54.120,0:09:58.610 that our participants became more biased[br]against out-group authority figures. 0:09:58.690,0:10:02.860 Option two is that they became[br]less biased and more generous. 0:10:03.350,0:10:08.710 And option three is that we saw no changes[br]in the behavior that we were observing. 0:10:09.480,0:10:11.400 Now I want everybody to be really brave. 0:10:11.400,0:10:12.850 (Laughter) 0:10:13.548,0:10:15.925 Who thinks that option number one 0:10:15.925,0:10:17.590 was what we saw? 0:10:18.470,0:10:19.859 Okay. 0:10:20.510,0:10:25.590 Who thinks that option number two,[br]a decrease in the bias, is what we saw? 0:10:26.820,0:10:28.590 Who thinks that option number three, 0:10:28.590,0:10:32.450 held case that there was no change[br]in the behavior we observed? 0:10:33.410,0:10:34.777 And how about option four, 0:10:34.777,0:10:38.495 which is that you're too nervous to[br]make a guess about religion publicly? 0:10:38.495,0:10:40.040 (Laughter) 0:10:42.267,0:10:48.110 What we saw is that after a 30-minute[br]period of personal spiritual practice, 0:10:48.410,0:10:53.420 our study participants became[br]more generous to the out-group. 0:10:54.509,0:10:56.949 They arranged their teachings[br]as more meaningful 0:10:56.949,0:11:00.379 and reported to feel the Spirit[br]more strongly from them 0:11:00.440,0:11:03.548 than they had at the beginning[br]of the study session. 0:11:03.906,0:11:06.200 There are several possible mechanisms 0:11:06.230,0:11:08.871 that could be driving[br]the behaviors that we observe. 0:11:08.914,0:11:10.699 It's very likely, for example, 0:11:10.705,0:11:13.960 that principals from the psychology[br]of attachment theory 0:11:15.049,0:11:17.708 are participating in this authority bias. 0:11:18.529,0:11:22.769 There are also elements of classical[br]conditioning that might be at play here. 0:11:23.500,0:11:25.439 Biologically speaking, 0:11:25.439,0:11:27.906 when dopamine is released[br]through the brain, 0:11:27.911,0:11:31.590 it may be driving an increase[br]in social openness. 0:11:32.780,0:11:35.449 As is most often the case in science, 0:11:35.449,0:11:38.814 the full story likely requires[br]a complex map 0:11:39.079,0:11:41.609 with multiple layers of explanation. 0:11:44.910,0:11:46.445 Religion, in my mind, 0:11:46.446,0:11:49.924 shows a lot of similar[br]features with sex. 0:11:51.009,0:11:53.280 The majority of adults do it, 0:11:53.580,0:11:57.220 they say that it brings meaning[br]and pleasure into their lives, 0:11:57.620,0:12:01.950 and in spite of strident advocates[br]for abstinence only, 0:12:02.480,0:12:04.135 people are going to do it. 0:12:04.135,0:12:05.740 (Laughter) 0:12:05.740,0:12:09.290 No matter how many people say,[br]"Never be sexual," 0:12:09.290,0:12:11.519 humans will be sexual. 0:12:11.839,0:12:14.890 No matter how many people say,[br]"Never be religious," 0:12:15.290,0:12:17.030 humans will be religious. 0:12:17.090,0:12:22.350 These are behaviors that spring[br]from deep evolutionary needs. 0:12:23.030,0:12:26.945 What I advocate is not for science[br]to focus its editorializing 0:12:26.945,0:12:30.170 on the eradication of religious behavior, 0:12:30.170,0:12:32.559 but rather, like safe sex, 0:12:32.987,0:12:39.969 on evidence-based best practices for[br]how we can do religion safely and well. 0:12:39.969,0:12:42.289 (Cheers) (Applause) 0:12:48.989,0:12:54.360 Imagine a renewed partnership[br]between the seminary and the academy 0:12:54.870,0:12:58.230 to articulate intelligent safe theology. 0:12:58.230,0:13:01.489 It could do a lot of good[br]in a world that needs it. 0:13:02.839,0:13:07.220 We live in an exciting day[br]of rapidly accelerating discovery. 0:13:07.700,0:13:13.100 What that means is the formation[br]of radically disruptive ideas. 0:13:14.170,0:13:19.010 Interdisciplinary and convergent work[br]are exponentially driving the pace 0:13:19.059,0:13:22.114 of our expanded self-understanding. 0:13:22.994,0:13:25.433 The hope that I would like[br]to convey to you 0:13:25.433,0:13:28.133 is that by launching into a new era 0:13:28.133,0:13:32.960 of religious studies that incorporate[br]the best tools of our scientific methods, 0:13:33.302,0:13:37.850 we may win the capacity to further[br]enlighten our respective cultures 0:13:37.850,0:13:42.834 and to refine our religious traditions[br]in ways that make them more worthy 0:13:42.834,0:13:46.406 of the divine nature[br]that they claim to represent. 0:13:46.990,0:13:49.520 This is your brain on God. 0:13:50.530,0:13:52.114 Any questions? 0:13:52.465,0:13:54.530 (Applause) 0:13:58.581,0:14:00.021 Thank you.