…I was working my way contentedly through this report from Miller-McCune, prejudices being reinforced one by one, until I got to the last paragraph and realized that the whole thesis was utter nonsense:

The research team, led by Amy Owen of Duke University, notes that the human brain shrinks with age, and the region known as the hippocampus, which has been linked to learning and memory, typically atrophies at an accelerated rate late in life. This shrinkage has been linked to depression, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Intrigued by previous research that linked smaller hippocampus volume with hyper-religiosity in some epileptics — as well as research on the effect of meditation on the hippocampus — the researchers decided to conduct a wider study of religious belief and brain shrinkage. The participants were 268 residents of the American Southeast, all of whom were at least 58 years old when the project got underway. All were involved on an ongoing basis for two to eight years.

MRI scans of their brains were performed every two years; data on their spiritual life and psychological state (including levels of stress and depression) was collected annually. Religion-oriented questions included their specific affiliation (or lack thereof); how often they worship publicly and pray privately; and whether they consider themselves “born again,” or have had any other religious experience that changed their life.

“Significantly greater hippocampal atrophy was observed from baseline to final assessment among born-again Protestants, Catholics, and those with no religious affiliation, compared with Protestants not identifying as born-again,” the researchers report.