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Lucian

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  1. Greetings! I am looking to learn about neurotheology as a hobby. I have no academic background in any scientific field (my degree is in linguistics). So far I've only picked up Andrew Newberg and Mark Robert Waldman's book, "How God changes your brain", and I find it fascinating. I would like to learn if there are any studies and/or books on the following topics: 1. cognitive flexibility and religion: - why does the same sufferings/hardships draw some people towards religion and a search for God, while making other people depart from religion and lose their faith? - have there been brain scan comparisons done of people who have lost their faith and people who were atheists or agnostic and became religious? 2. neuroplasticity and religion: - Andrew Newberg mentions that there have been several studies involving CT scans performed on people from various religions who had been engaging in religious practices for many years, from Catholic nuns to Buddhist monks; however, his book is rather old, and I would like to learn about recent research, from the past decade - we know that there are clear transformations in the brain after several years of engaging in or disengaging from a repeated activity, such as prayer or meditation - I've come across some data from studies on addictions to compulsive behaviors, but hardly any related to how a person's brain changes in what Christians call "the born again" experience, which is mentioned in Christian Scripture and defined by those who underwent it as a rapid change of desires from evil to good - there are numerous online testimonials (both in video and written formats) of people who used to engage in a lot of damaging behaviors, such as addictions and depravity, only to have their desires changed in a short period of time as a result of prayer; this poses a problem to the current findings of neuroscience, according to which the brain patterns take months or years to rewire. I find such experiences fascinating, especially because I have had some similar ones too, but also because I have discussed with others who had them. Any information, books or articles recommendations on the matter are greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time.
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