Virginia Woolf - renowned author with severe depression[/caption]Carol Forsloff---People who are religious often tout the specific religious benefits of following Christ or someone's prophet or guru, but it turns out that spirituality and religion both offer benefits specific to the support of healthy brain function and protection against major depression.
Such practices as praying and meditation have been found by researchers to thicken the cortex of the brain. Consequently this leads to presenting a guard against depression.
A study conducted by a research team led by Lisa Miller, professor and director of Clinical Psychology and director of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute associated with Teachers College of Columbia University examined 103 male and female adult subjects with high or low risk of depression that was assessed by examining their family histories. Brain MRI's showed the cortical area of the brains were thicker on those who said they valued religion or spirituality than those who did not place significance in these areas.
The study is published by JAMA Psychiatry online. The results indicate the necessity for more research on the subject, but do suggest that spirituality and religion may protect against major depression by thickening the brain cortex and reducing the cortical thinning that is normally associated with major depression.
This information reinforces other information about the benefits of spirituality found in meditation, which has concluded that those who meditate regularly find psychological benefits in working in a negative environment.
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