hillary_step	Re: The Science of Religion-recent Economist Article
	It is an ambitious shopping list. Fortunately, other researchers have blazed a trail. Patrick McNamara, for example, is the head of the Evolutionary Neurobehaviour Laboratory at Boston University's School of Medicine. He works with people who suffer from Parkinson's disease. This illness is caused by low levels of a messenger molecule called dopamine in certain parts of the brain. In a preliminary study, Dr McNamara discovered that those with Parkinson's had lower levels of religiosity than healthy individuals, and that the difference seemed to correlate with the disease's severity. He therefore suspects a link with dopamine levels and is now conducting a follow-up involving some patients who are taking dopamine-boosting medicine and some of whom are not. It is not news that a religious experience can be triggered by chemical means, and by electrical stimulation of certain areas of the brain. The resulting sensation is one that those who claim to have had a 'religious experience', often accompanied by emotional feelings of well-being, hold in common. Measurements taken of the human brain during a religious fervor differ not at all between Christian, Indian Fakir, or Voodo ecstacy. What does differ is territory and culture. Those who have had 'Christ' enter their heart, were they living in India, would merely rename the concept to suit their culture. A religionist may claim that God can easily manipulate the chemsitry of the mind, but they have a harder job explaining why what they expereinced has been experienced by the primitives for tens of thousands of years. HS edited for horrendous spelling issues.
IP: zLRBsl92EDl5OSmw	by hillary_step: Correct formatting by hillary_step: Correct formatting