Study finds religious people's entire analytical portion of the brain shuts down completely while in a state of religious contemplation or ecstasy
Studies have shown that the entire portion of the brain devoted to analytic thought actually shuts down completely while in a state of religious contemplation or ecstasy
In a very real sense, all teenagers are “born again” when hormones and enzymes restructure every part of their bodies, inside and out.
Until a few hundred years ago, the process of growing up was facilitated by reassuring rituals and by the societal expectation that the transition would be brief, measured in months.
Unfortunately, children today face a prolonged, unguided journey called the teen years, often lasting several decades in many parts of the world. Starting around age twelve, children are treated like babies but expected to act like adults.
This dichotomy is reflected in the adolescent brain, a work still in progress. The prefrontal cortex (the region that allows us to rationally plan ahead) is not yet sufficiently developed to consistently quell the hedonistic impulses of the hormonally-driven limbic system.