The Science Of Spirituality
More than half of adult Americans report that a spiritual experience has changed their lives.
Decoding The Mystery Of Near-Death Experiences()
May 22, 2009 Some researchers are exploring whether a mind can operate while the brain has stopped. One neuroscientist says that after a near-death experience, people's brains appear to undergo changes at the neural level.
Can Positive Thoughts Help Heal Another Person?()
May 21, 2009 The idea that positive thoughts and prayer can affect your health has been taught at medical schools for years. But can your thoughts affect another person physically? A few renegade scientists are conducting studies between loved ones to find that out — and they say it's possible.
Prayer May Reshape Your Brain ... And Your Reality()
May 20, 2009 Scans show that people who spend untold hours in prayer or meditation go dark in the parietal lobe, the brain area that helps create a sense of self. A researcher says these people may be rewriting the neural connections in their brains — altering how they see the world.
Are Spiritual Encounters All In Your Head?()
May 19, 2009 Scientists suspect Moses and other religious figures were epileptic. But that doesn't mean they didn't really hear God. One researcher has created the "God helmet," which uses sensors to reproduce mystical experience by manipulating brain chemistry.
The God Chemical: Brain Chemistry And Mysticism()
May 18, 2009 In a study at Johns Hopkins, a majority of test subjects given a psychedelic drug reported having full-blown mystical experiences. Such research is shedding light on the chemical reactions that take place in the brain when people feel they're encountering God.
Bradley Hagerty On Science And God()
May 22, 2009 NPR's Barbara Bradley Hagerty spent a year exploring the science of spirituality for her book Fingerprints of God. She tells Michele Norris that she concluded that science can't prove or disprove the existence of God.
