In this paper, I examine what I refer to as the spike doctrine, which is the generally held belief in neuroscience that information in the brain is encoded by sequences of neural action potentials. I present the argument that specific neurochemicals, and not spikes, are the elementary units of information in the brain. I outline several predictions that arise from this interpretation, relate th...

Researchers often expose participants to a series of words (e.g., religion, God, faith) to activate religious concepts and observe their subsequent effects on people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. This research has revealed many important effects of experimentally manipulated religious cognition in domains ranging from prosocial behavior to prejudice. However, it is not exactly clear what...

religious knowledge is consists of doctrines that could be attain with amethodological cognition and inquiry concerning religious sources. but theprerequisite of this kind of knowledge is some principles that from whichscholarly studies on religion is begin and leads to conclusion. allamehtabatabaei, in his efforts to achieve a regular and accurate cognition ofreligion according to his special ...

Recent articles by Erich Goode (2000) and Glenn Sparks (2001) discussed the relationship between religious and paranormal beliefs. Goode proposes that they share a common foundation of belief in phenomena that are outside conventional science. Sparks is less certain of a relationship between traditional religion and paranormal beliefs. However, both writers agree that there are multiple dimensi...

Evidence suggests that neighborhood disadvantage predicts preterm delivery (PTD). However, the design of most existing studies precludes within-group analyses, which would allow the identification segments of the population at highest risk, as well as preventive factors. African Americans (AA) are disproportionately affected by PTD, are disproportionately concentrated in disadvantaged neighborh...

OBJECTIVE The aim was to determine maternal views and experiences regarding repeat caesarean section. METHODS A pretested and validated semi-structured questionnaire was administered to women with prior cesarean section by trained research assistants and resident doctors; anonymity and confidentiality were strictly observed. The questionnaire comprised information reflecting patients' sociode...

This study explored how religious fundamentalism related to irrational beliefs and primitive defense mechanisms. We also explored how the personality factors of openness to experience and neuroticism moderated these relations. Participants (N = 120) were recruited in an urban area from a Northeastern university, a psychotherapy center, and through Internet advertising. The results demonstrated ...

An explosion of recent research suggests that religious beliefs and behaviors are universal, arise from deep-seated cognitive mechanisms, and were favored by natural selection over human evolutionary history. However, if a propensity towards religious beliefs is a fundamental characteristic of human brains (as both by-product theorists and adaptationists agree), and/or an important ingredient o...

To advance knowledge in the study of spirituality and physical health, we examined sociodemographic, behavioral, and attitudinal correlates of self-perceptions of spirituality. Participants were a nationally representative sample of 1,422 adult respondents to the 1998 General Social Survey. They were asked, among other things, to rate themselves on the depth of their spirituality and the depth ...

Some individuals when they come close to death report having experiences that they interpret as spiritual or religious. These so-called near-death experiences (NDEs) often include a sense of separation from the physical body and encounters with religious figures and a mystical or divine presence. They share with mystical experiences a sense of cosmic unity or oneness, transcendence of time and ...