How God Changes Your Brain - Andrew Newberg, M. D_ [40]
As far as the mechanical functioning of the brain is concerned, it doesn't matter whether God is physically, mentally, or spiritually real. It only matters whether the concept is useful for survival, and since notions of spiritual realms have permeated cultural history, this suggests that religion has played an important role in helping people cope with their lives. As the biologist and anthropologist David Sloan Wilson points out, religious belief “is intimately connected to reality by motivating behaviors that are adaptive in the real world.”1
DRAWING PICTURES OF GOD
All conscious thoughts and images have a neurological impact on the brain, but certain words emotionally affect a person more than others.2 Even yes and no are processed emotionally, and in different areas of the brain.3 It actually takes a person longer to respond to no, which suggests that the brain does not take kindly to having its behavior interrupted. In fact, it takes years to train a child's mind to understand the concept of “no.”
But what about the word God? We believe that this concept has a specifically unique effect upon the brain, because the evidence shows that children begin with a simple concrete image of God that slowly becomes more abstract and emotionally arousing in either a positive or negative way. Indeed, God may be one of the most powerful words that a person encounters in childhood.
In order to give you a personal sense of the neurological power of a single word, I want you to get a pencil or pen and a blank piece of paper and draw a picture of God. Be spontaneous and draw whatever comes to mind, without worrying about the quality of your art, but you must complete the drawing in two minutes. Also, pay attention to the first reaction you had when I asked you to draw a picture of God. When you finish your drawing, write a brief description of its meaning below the picture.
We've been conducting this experiment for several years with different groups of religious and nonreligious people, and if you're like most of the adults who have participated, the question probably caught you off guard. Nearly everyone pauses for a long time—even longer than when we asked, “What does God feel like?”—which tells us there is increased activity occurring in many parts of the brain, especially in the visual, motor, association, cognitive, and emotional centers.4 Indeed, the question appears to be so neurologically challenging and psychologically provocative that some people simply refuse to draw anything. Children, however, have no difficulty with the request, and delight in drawing their impressions of God.
For sixty years researchers have been asking children to draw pictures in order to explore their religious concepts and beliefs. Young children, in particular, do not have the language to articulate religious concepts well, but their pictures give great insight into their feelings and thoughts. In general, children live their religious lives through imaginative daydreams and symbolism, rather than through words.
For example, in 1986 psychologist David Heller interviewed forty children using drawings, doll play, and innovative forms of dialogue.5 He found that Catholic children associated God with family. Jewish children talked about God in relationship to suffering. For Baptist children, God was controlling, providing order, organization, and structure to one's life. Hindu children identified their gods with community. For them, a divine being symbolized energy or a force in the universe, not a person.
One might assume from this that different religions generate different images of God, even among different Christian sects, but a recent study compared the drawings of children from Unitarian and Baptist backgrounds and found no significant differences.6 This suggests that religious denomination has little to do with a child's physical image of