Research on spirituality provides us with a wealth of knowledge about our connection with our spirituality.
In general, spirituality means a sense of connection to something larger than ourselves. As such, it is a common human experience that impacts us all. Sacred, transcendent, or simply a strong sense of aliveness and interconnectedness can all be used to describe the spiritual experience.
Some people’s faith lives are inextricably linked to their participation in a church, shrine, mosque, or synagogue. Others may pray or seek comfort from a personal relationship with God or a higher power. Others search for meaning in their connections with nature or art. Your personal definition of spirituality, like your sense of purpose, can change over time as you adapt to new experiences and relationships.
Some new researches on spirituality
We can reap the benefits of spirituality if we are aware of these new researches on spirituality. Here are some new researches on spirituality:
Research No.1: Religion and spirituality have been linked to brain modifications that may impart tolerance to depression
By: Eric W. Dolan
According to new researches on spirituality published in Brain and Behavior, religious and spiritual values minimize the risk of depression. They change white matter microstructure and brain communication pathways.
A previous study showed that people who said religion or spirituality was very important to them were protected from depression over 5 years. They were even protected against depression from a family history of depression.
Another research found that belief in the value of religion or spirituality resulted in people having thicker cortices in many brain regions. These regions include the left and right parietal and occipital regions. They may confer depression resilience.
Diffusion tensor imaging can analyze the microstructure of 99 people’s brains. Diffusion tensor imaging is a form of MRI-based neuroimaging that allows you to see white matter tracts in your brain.
According to Xu and his colleagues, the brains of people with a high familial risk for depression resembled those with a low familial risk for depression when they said that religion or spirituality was very important.
Research No.2: Spirituality and religiousness have been linked to mental health
By:
- Luciano Magalhães Vitorino
- Giancarlo Lucchetti
- Frederico Camelo Leão
- Homero Vallada
- Mario Fernando Prieto Peres
New spirituality studies are trying to explain how various levels of spirituality and religiousness affect the quality of life, depressive symptoms, anxiety, confidence, and happiness in adults. The researchers conducted cross-sectional research of 1,046 Brazilian adults.
Conclusions
In conclusion, those who have high levels of spirituality and religiosity than only spirituality, only religion, or none of them have:
- Higher Quality of Life (psychological, social, and environmental)
- Optimism
- Satisfaction
Nevertheless, having a high degree of religiousness rather than a high level of spirituality can have better outcomes. These findings may bring modern medicine closer to the World Health Organization’s concept of health, a state of full physical, mental, and social well-being, rather than merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Furthermore, the findings may help in future discussions of definitions and concepts in the field.
Research No.3: Mindfulness’s Elevated Status and Competing Spiritualities in Health Research
By: Maria Nita
The research investigates discourses of spirituality in the field of Health Research. It investigates current trends in modern spirituality and connections with debates about science, religion, and secularization. In the public sphere, the word “spirituality” refers to a collective activity rather than an individual search for meaning. Furthermore, the article identifies several common misconceptions about spirituality in clinical studies. Finally, it seems that, amid shared understandings, the performance and elevated prestige of mindfulness in this field points to overlapping spiritualities.
Conclusion
They showed that religion and science have a history of competition and conflict. And some scientists are still concerned with testing and debunking the value of spirituality in health and healing practices. But the recent trend has been one of investigating the benefits of spirituality, even in the absence or neglect of scientific evidence. Thus, it seems that science, religion, and spirituality may appear to be at odds for many people. But this is no longer important—and perhaps never was—when people are talking about suffering, life, and death. However, the implications for Health Studies are complex. This research tried to highlight the urgent need for qualitative research in this field, examining how ‘spirituality can be framed, understood, and constructed.
Research No.4: A Systematic Analysis of the Impact of Music on Patients’ Spirituality
Some research shows that music can positively impact physical and psychological variables. But very few studies have looked at its impact on spirituality. This new researches on spirituality aimed to assess the impact of musical interventions on patients’ spirituality, regardless of their diagnoses.
Conclusion
This research was unable to determine the positive impact of music intervention on spirituality in patients. This requires further studies.
Research No.5: Spirituality and Religion Have Neuroanatomical Correlates (A Research of Adults with High and Low Familial Depression Risk)
By: Priya Wickramaratne; Ravi Bansal, PhD; Lisa Miller, PhD
We previously found a 90 percent lower risk of major depression in adult offspring of depressed probands who reported that religion or spirituality was very important to them. Church attendance was not shown to be significantly linked to depression risk. Previous brain imaging studies in these high-risk families’ adult offspring showed wide expanses of cortical thinning across the lateral surface of the right cerebral hemisphere.
Objective
To see if at-risk individuals who placed a high value on religion or spirituality had thicker cortices than those who placed a moderate or low value on religion or spirituality and if this difference was dependent on family risk status.
Conclusions
Numerous studies have discovered a connection between religiosity and depression. And others have attempted to discover a neurobiological basis for religious and spiritual experiences. Transcranial magnetic stimulation of the temporoparietal areas, for example, evoked feelings of sensed presence in healthy people. A study of older adults using structural MRI found a connection between born-again status, life-changing religious experiences, and Catholicism with subsequent greater atrophy in the hippocampus. The duration of self-evoked religious encounters during MRI was correlated with improved blood flow in different subregions of the prefrontal and parietal cortices. However, these neurobiological correlates of religious and spiritual experiences have yet to be investigated in terms of the risk and protective benefits.
