Another interesting research has just demonstrated how possible it is for science to control a person's perspective towards other people and God. A psychologist from the University of York utilized the power of magnetism to temporarily collapse certain regions of the brain, and significantly reduce the people's belief in God and their preconception towards immigrants.
Researchers consisting Dr. Keise Izuma and fellow scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) targeted the brains' posterior medial frontal cortex which is known to monitor performance problems and person's adaptation responses. Using a method called transcranial magnetic stimulation, scientists momentarily shut down this brain region in some participants as stated in the press release.
The total population was divided equally into two. One group received enough amount of magnetic energy to effectively deactivate their brain's target area, while the other received just less. After such procedure, the volunteers were then instructed to think about death, and were asked about their spiritual beliefs. Their feelings about immigrants were also assessed after being asked to read two essays (positive and negative towards the US) presumably written by immigrants.
Their findings show that the group, who had their targeted brain region temporarily disabled, reported a decrease in their beliefs about God by about 33 percent. They showed an added trust with the Devils, demons, and Hell, as compared to before they had the procedure.
Moreover, the treatment group also displayed 28.5 percent more positive views towards immigrants who criticized their country.
"We think that hearing criticisms of your group's values, perhaps especially from a person you perceive as an outsider, is processed as an ideological sort of threat," says Dr. Izuma as quoted by EurekAlert. With this, it is imperative that the primary response of a person towards critics would be to negate their ideology. However, it turned out that the treated participants reacted negatively less, which may be attributed to the effects brought by disrupting the targeted brain region.
With all these findings, it can be deduced that responses and ideological reactions are still governed by brain functions. However, there is a need still for more research to fully understand the mechanism that is involved in modifying people's religious beliefs and prejudice towards other groups.
The research appears in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.
