The light depicted as surrounding spiritual leaders in centuries old pictures and in glass art enhancing Church Cathedral Buildings is described as auras. I have written about auras before, especially when Christ appeared to the Nephite people after His resurrection. He was described as glowing. I also believe that I have seen people testifying of Christ in Sacrament meeting when their faces glowed somewhat. Not from an artificial source but rather from their own spirit. I have been told a few times by people in a church setting and where the spirit was especially strong that my face and bald head seemed to glow somewhat. Is there actually a change in a person’s persona when they have been spiritually uplifted? The following scientific study below demonstrates how a section of the brain has lit up and has shown much greater activity when a person is experiencing a spiritual experience. The study is described below:
The MRI scan of Auriel Brunsvik Peterson’s brain, taken during a religious experience, was lit up like a Christmas tree. Peterson, 29, has been a devout Mormon her entire life. But seeing that image was the first time her belief was more than abstract.
“I finally have a small shred of physical evidence …that I am feeling something and I’m not crazy,” she said. It showed that “you are experiencing something euphoric and life changing and…something special and different.” The study—published Tuesday in Social Neuroscience — found that the reward center of the brain, known as the nucleus accumbens, lights up when Mormon missionaries “feel the spirit.” “When we looked at the images, we were really surprised by how consistently we were able to see the same network of brain regions that were active when [participants] reported peak spiritual feelings,” said Jeffrey Anderson, a U. neuroscientist who led the study. Participants had to be 20- to 30-year-old returned Mormon missionaries who were active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While in the MRI machine, participants were shown clips of spiritually evocative, LDS Church-produced videos and were allowed time to read scriptures and pray. which was then compared to their previous scans. Anderson said researchers weren’t even sure participants would be able to have a religious experience in an MRI machine. But most participants were in tears by the end of the hour long experiment, he said. The most moving part of the experience for Peterson, who completed her mission in Salt Lake City, was watching a video of Joseph Smith’s “First Vision,” in which the Mormon founder said God and Jesus appeared to him. “Because I’ve seen that and read that several times, not only was I having memories, but I felt emotions, and I felt strongly about it,” Peterson said. “It was epic.” Moving forward, Anderson hopes to complete the study with individuals from other religious groups. “Do we see the same type of patterns in other faith traditions? How universal is this library of brain responses?” Anderson asked. “We’d love to know that.” Read the rest of the article in the Salt Lake Tribune.