Research roundup: schizophrenia, brain ageing, and unexplained medical mysteries

Last updated on: November 11, 2014 at 9:04 pm by Epiphenom

Research roundup: schizophrenia, brain ageing, and unexplained medical mysteries 2014-11-11T21:04:00+01:00 Epiphenom

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

So, posting has been infrequent of late. But on the plus side, that means I have a huge backlog of fantastic research to share with you. To get it cleared, I’m going to try a new approach – mixing in brief summaries of several studies in one post, as well as the usual, more in-depth articles.

To kick us off, here’s three good ones on religion and mental health.

Does prayer stop brain ageing?
A door-to-door survey in Northern Israel, older Arabic women who had their intellectual faculties fully intact tended to report praying more when they were younger than women who had Alzheimer’s disease or mild cognitive impairment. Now, you can’t really get cause and effect from memories of 20 years ago (doubly so from people who aren’t firing on all cylinders), but that does link in with other research. Interestingly, almost all the men they talked to reported praying a lot when they were middle aged, regardless of their brain functioning.

The religious delusions of schizophrenics
A study of schizophrenics has found that their religious delusions were different in nature from their regular delusions – they tend to have more grandiosity and be linked to anomalous mood states. The researchers think that this might be why they are more difficult to treat.

A mystery to medical science?
Patients with ‘medically unexplained symptoms’ have symptoms and complaints with no apparent cause – at least as far as their doctor can discern. In a survey of doctors in the USA, two thirds thought that these unexplained symptoms probably reflect a disease that simply is not understood by medical science (i.e. they have a physical explanation). But the remaining one-third believe they reflect spiritual problems. Interestingly, psychiatrists are the least likely to resort to spiritual explanations – perhaps because they tend to be less religious than other physicians

This article by Tom Rees was first published on Epiphenom. It is licensed under Creative Commons.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

January 26, 2014

Religious countries are the most corrupt

Next Post

February 26, 2014 Hell and happiness

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Causes of religion - evolution Causes of religion - psychological Causes of religion - social Demographics Digest Effects of religion - health Effects of religion - psychological Effects of religion - social Notifications Politics Uncategorized

Select a Month March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Selah," found often in Psalms, likely mean?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Forever Give thanks Pause or reflect Sing loudly