In Depth:  Sharon Dirckx

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Is religious experience just brain activity?

Is religious experience just brain activity?

Sharon Dirckx

Neuroscientist and author of Am I Just My Brain?, Sharon Dirckx, asks a pressing modern question

Many people admit to having prayed at some point in life, be that at bedtime as a child, or amid a crisis as an adult. Many people, regardless of their beliefs about God, perceive prayer to be a useful religious activity. But what happens in the brain when people pray? In recent years, this discipline of the devout has been studied closely by neuroscientists.