frontal lobes(前頂葉皮層 掌管我們的注意力

来源: marketreflections 于 2009-06-22 09:18:49 [] [博客] [旧帖] [给我悄悄话] 阅读数 : (10455 bytes)
回答: Prieur du Plessis: fundemental 由 marketreflections 于 2009-05-03 16:37:45

http://blog.roodo.com/timereading/archives/8839557.html

牛堡教授的實驗觀察超過100個人，這100個人禱告和敬拜的深度都不盡相同，所以你知道嗎？當你禱告、敬拜、默想神的話、甚至禁食的時候，你的大腦裡面都出現一些細微的變化。我們一個一個來看：

首先你要認識的是你的frontal lobes(前頂葉皮層，是腦的一部份，位於從前額到頭頂之處，掌管大部分腦部活動，最主要的功能是掌管我們的注意力，注意那些從我們各種感官傳回來的訊息)，一般沒有禱告的人，他的注意力就由”體”的感覺傳導回來的訊息所支配，所以當他們得癌症、AIDS等疾病的時候，沒有信仰的人，因為持續關注身體傳回來的訊息，所以病情改善的程度與比例，遠比有信仰的人來得低很多。

安德滷牛堡博士提到了美國一個著名的真實案例，一位患者身體裡面有一個惡性腫瘤，醫生給了他一個最新研發出來的特效藥，結果，因為他相信這個藥有功用，所以他的腫瘤就開始變小，開始變小；結果，當患者看到最新的研究報告出來，證明這個藥沒有用，幾天以後，他的腫瘤又開始變大，開始變大；接著，他的醫生說要給他服用一個加強版的特效藥（為了讓他安心），但是，藥瓶裡裝的其實只是無菌的蒸餾水，但是因為他相信這個加強版的藥效，所以他的腫瘤又開始縮小...。所以其實美國醫學界已經有了這樣的共識，身體的疾病不只是身體，與你的精神狀態是息息相關的。

當你深入禱告的時候，你的frontal lobes的力量開始減少，也就是說，你的腦子不再專注於周遭環境，感官所帶給你的訊息，而能夠從原本心裡所思考、所掛念、所擔心的事情中把注意力挪開，照我們基督徒的話說，這就是把注意力轉移到神的身上，不再關注在自己的需要和問題上，這就是進入了更深的禱告的層次。（這不就是敬拜和禱告的真理嗎？）

敬拜和說方言也是這樣（這可不是我說的，是TIME雜誌裡面報導的喔！）當你敬拜與說方言進入一個深入的層次的時候，從frontal lobes傳來的聲音變得比較小，所以你可以得到個人主觀的經驗，舉例來說，當牧師為人禱告的時候，他可能會說出一句完全不在他思考模式裡面的話，而這句話又剛好切中你心裡的需要！為什麼？這篇文章沒有處理到上帝如何給人話語的部分，但是處理到人要怎麼接收從神來的話的部分，就是當你的frontal lobes傳來的訊息”volume down”的時候，就容易說出不在自己的思考模式裡面的話。

最有趣的部分來了，當一個人禱告和meditate久了以後，他的腦子會出現永久性的變化。首先來說，這meditate是什麼呢？是沈思、是默想，但是如果我們翻去詩篇第一篇，你去看「惟喜愛耶和華的律法，晝夜思想」這個晝夜思想，NIV英文聖經用的就是meditate這個字。所以各位，了了吧？重點是讀經，晝夜思想啊！

剛才提到腦部會出現永久性的變化，這變化是什麼呢？就是你的frontal lobes的皮層組織會變厚（因為你經常操練的緣故嘛）。變厚有什麼好處？聰明的你已經想到了，你就變聰明了嘛！按照生物學的嚴謹研究來說，大腦的記憶功能就會增進，你的記憶力就增加了，也就是說，你的腦子可以裝進比過去更多的訊息，而且不會忘記！所以，這不但不影響你的frontal lobes原本處理感官訊息的能力，而且還記憶力增加，簡單來說，就是你的硬碟升級了啦！

接下來說到禁食，禁食已經被證明能夠清除身體的毒素，而這些身體的毒素被清除之後，這些訊息傳達到腦部的時候，你的精神狀態因為少了毒害，所以會處於一種更清楚、更透明，甚至興高采烈的狀態，文中也提到，這會讓你的屬靈洞察力增加。

這個數字也許令人震撼，人口統計學家，德州大學的Robert Hummer（拉伯8231;榔頭）教授從1992年作了一個人口統計，他調查同一群人的死亡率，統計進行8年的時間，實驗組是每週都去參加教會主日的基督徒，對照組是不去教堂的人，他的調查發現，8年中，不去教堂的這一組，死亡的風險比參加主日的高出一倍。


Pray and meditate enough and some changes in the brain become permanent(adj. 永久的/持久的). Long-term meditators — those with 15 years of practice or more — appear to have thicker frontal lobes than nonmeditators. People who describe themselves as highly spiritual tend to(v. 趨向) exhibit(vt. 展出/陳列) an asymmetry(n. 不對稱) in the thalamus(n. 丘腦) — a feature that other people can develop after just eight weeks of training in meditation skills. "It may be that some people have fundamental asymmetry [in the thalamus] to begin with," Newberg says, "and that leads them down this path, which changes the brain further." No matter what explains the shape of the brain, it can pay dividends(n. 紅利/額外津貼/被除數). Better-functioning frontal lobes help boost(v. 推進) memory. In one study, Newberg scanned the brains of people who complained of poor recall(vt. 回憶/想起/取消) before they underwent meditation training, then scanned them again after.

As the lobes bulked up(漲大), memory improved. Faith and health overlap in other ways too. Take fasting. One of the staples(n. 釘書針) of both traditional wellness protocols(n. 協議/草案) and traditional religious rituals is the cleansing fast, which is said to purge(v. 淨化/清除/使通便) toxins(n.毒素) in the first case and purge sins or serve other pious(adj. 虔誠的/盡責的) ends in the second. There are secular(adj. 長期的) water fasts, tea fasts and grapefruit fasts, to say nothing of the lemon, maple-syrup(n. 糖漿/果汁) and cayenne(n. 辣椒)-pepper fast. Jews fast on Yom Kippur(n. 猶太人的贖罪日); Muslims observe Ramadan(n. 齋月); Catholics have Lent(n. 四旬齋); Hindus(n. 印度人/印度教徒) give up food on 18 major holidays. Done right, these fasts may lead to a state of clarity(n. 清楚/透明) and even euphoria(n. 精神歡快/興高采烈). This, in turn, can give practitioners(n. 從業者/開業者) the blissful(adj. 有福的) sense that whether the goal of the food restriction is health or spiritual insight(n. 洞察力), it's being achieved. Maybe it is, but there's also chemical legerdemain(n. 戲法/騙術/詭辯/巧妙的花招) at work.

The brain is a very energy-intensive organ, one that requires a lot of calories to keep running. When food intake is cut, the liver(n. 肝臟) steps into the breach(n. 裂口/破壞), producing glucose(n. 葡萄糖) and sending it throughout the body — always making sure the brain gets a particularly generous helping. The liver's reserve lasts only about 24 hours, after which, cells begin breaking down the body's fats and proteins — essentially(adv. 本質上/本來) living off(v. 靠...生活) the land. As this happens, the composition(n. 成分/合成物) of the blood — including hormones, neurotransmitters(n. 神經傳導素) and metabolic(adj. 代謝作用的/新陳代謝的) by-products(n. 產物/乘積) — changes. Throw this much loopy(adj. 多圈的/一圈的) chemistry at a sensitive machine like the brain and it's likely to go on the blink(v. 閃亮/眨眼). "There are very real changes that occur in the body very rapidly that might explain the clarity during fasting," says Dr. Catherine Gordon, an endocrinologist(n. 內分泌學) at Children's Hospital in Boston. "The brain is in a different state even during a short-term fast." Biologically, that's not good, but the light-headed sense of peace, albeit(conj. 雖然) brief(簡短), that comes with it reinforces(vt. 加強/增援/補充/修補/加固) the fast and rewards you for engaging in it all the same. How Powerful Is Prayer? For most believers, the element of religious life that intersects(vi. 相交/交叉) most naturally with health is prayer.

Very serious theologians(n. 神學者) believe in the power of so-called intercessory prayer to heal the sick, and some very serious scientists have looked at it too, with more than 6,000 published studies on the topic just since 2000. Some of them have been funded by groups like the John Templeton Foundation — part of whose mission is to search for overlaps of religion and science — but others have come from more dispassionate investigators. As long ago as 1872, Francis Galton, the man behind eugenics(adj. 優生學的) and fingerprinting, reckoned(vt. 計算/總計/估計/猜想) that monarchs(n. 君主/統治者/元首) should live longer than the rest of us, since millions of people pray for the health of their King or Queen every day. His research showed just the opposite — no surprise, perhaps, given the rich diet(n. 通常所吃的食物) and extensive(adj. 廣泛的/廣大的) leisure(n. 空閒/閒暇/安逸) that royal families enjoy. An oft(adv. 常常/再三) discussed 1988 study by cardiologist(n. 心臟病專家) Randolph Byrd of San Francisco General Hospital found that heart patients who were prayed for fared better than those who were not. But a larger study in 2005 by cardiologist Herbert Benson at Harvard University challenged that finding, reporting that complications(n. 併發症/複雜化/使複雜的因素) occurred in 52% of heart-bypass(n. 旁路) patients who received intercessory prayer and 51% of those who didn't.

Sloan says even attempting(vi. 專心/留意) to find a scientific basis for a link between prayer and healing is a "fool's errand(n.差使/使命)" — and for the most basic methodological(adj. 方法的) reason. "It's impossible to know how much prayer is received," he says, "and since you don't know that, you can't determine dose(n. 服藥劑量)." Such exactitude(n. 正確/精密/嚴格) does not dissuade believers — not surprising, given the centrality(n. 向心力/集中性) of prayer to faith. But there is one thing on which both camps agree: when you're setting up your study, it matters a great deal whether subjects know they're being prayed for. Give them even a hint(n. 暗示/線索/提示) as to whether they're in the prayer group or a control group and the famed(adj. 著名的/聞名的) placebo(n. 為死者所頌的晚禱詞/安慰劑) effect can blow your data to bits.

First described in the medical literature in the 1780s, the placebo effect can work all manner of curative(adj. 醫療的) magic against all manner of ills. Give a patient a sugar pill but call it an analgesic(n. 止痛劑), and pain may actually go away. Parkinson's disease patients who underwent a sham(adj. 虛假的) surgery that they were told would boost the low dopamine(多巴胺(一種治腦神經病的藥物)) levels responsible for their symptoms actually experienced a dopamine bump. Newberg describes a cancer patient whose tumors shrank(v. 收縮) when he was given an experimental drug, grew back when he learned that the drug was ineffective in other patients and shrank again when his doctor administered(管理) sterile(adj. 消過毒的) water but said it was a more powerful version of the medication. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration ultimately(adv. 終於/最後) declared the drug ineffective, and the patient died. All that may be necessary for the placebo effect to kick in is for one part of the brain to take in data from the world and hand that information off to another part that controls a particular bodily function.

"The brain appears to be able to target the placebo effect in a variety of ways," says Newberg. There's no science proving that the intercessions of others will make you well. But it surely does no harm — and probably helps — to know that people are praying for you.

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