Andrew Newberg in Principles of Neurotheology evaluates what happens in people’s brains in a deep spiritual practice like meditation or prayer. Scans show how religious practices, like meditation, can help shape a brain. He uses the advances in science such as functional brain imaging, cognitive neuroscience, psychology, and genetics. Scholarship should also engage with theological issues. –
Thoughts produce chemical reactions in the brain that affect mood and, by extension, decisions. Nerve cells are ‘wired’ together from repetition. In corroboration of the proverb ‘like attracts like’, two things vibrating at the same frequency will be pulled together. With every repetition of a thought and of how it triggers an emotion a neural pathway is reinforced. These small changes, frequently enough repeated, lead to changes in how brains work. Neuroplasticity is the ‘muscle building’ part of the brain; the things we do often we become stronger at, and what we don’t use fades away. That is the physical basis of why the repetition of a thought or an action over and over again increases its power.