Dear Graham, thank you for OLO.

I am suprised that you have time to consider the hippocampus and your potential shrinkage problem.

As the study didn't include any control sample; was based on 268 (as noted) instead of 666 people; and is inconsistent in its comparisons with such a wide observational time-frame of 2 to 8 years - maybe we should all wait for any confirmatory work?

So whilst yours may be bigger than mine it may not be if we wait a sufficient length... of time.

Advice for those who type hippocampus into Google's predictive search window... when you see Hippocampus erectus, don't bother clicking, they are seahorses!

Here's the original paper:

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0017006;jsessionid=BA51D2F404B28175BF9C211F93F5569E.ambra01

It's not very indicative of anything really. Except if true, then being a 'born again' or Catholic is probably a bit of liability in your old age. But then everyone already knew that didn't they?

why dont you ever ask me the easy questions lexey

the 2 birth has no physical/umbilical cord
bnut does have the silver cord..[flux/flowing]..to spirit

the 'spirit' cord...stays with us for ever
[unlike the physical life support cord..we got here...
[who's scar is the belly button]

it was hoped you would ask what it feels like
..ie the soul body..leaving the physical body..
[like slipping your hand..out of a wet glove]

and there you stand revealed
in your earned astral body
that if good radiates your goodness
or if vile....dampens your inner light

the good thing is in time we go to our next birth
into our light body....

[or comeback here
in whatever type body suits
our beastial nature..best..[this time]

anyhow the key to the hippocampuss
lies in the energy we seek to surround it with

One thing that fascinates me about this sort of research is why do it in the first place, and who funds it? As I noted, sample is too small to know anything relevant - so someone has wasted their money.

But then I thought the speculations could be fun. I can see some rationalisation for the fundamentalists or pentecostalists to have something different going on, but I always thought what mainstream denomination you were in was more a case of demographics than anything else. If you're Irish or southern European, or Latin American, then you are most likely going to be Roman Catholic, and if you're northern European or North American you are most likely going to be Protestant.

While I think Catholicism is less rational than Protestantism, I don't think there is much difference between the adherents of either side.

I would have thought frequency of church attendance would be a more (but not particularly) likely indicator of something.

as to who funds things like this

http://www.healthcanal.com/brain-nerves/17250-Religious-Factors-May-Influence-Changes-the-Brain.html

""This study was funded by National Institutes of Health grants MH54846,MH60451,and MH70027,and the John Templeton Foundation.""

that seems as close as we can get
but here is the thing...[anyone with the numbers..for say altzheimers
can pick a sub-group..*out of its larger numbers]

and while they say a follow up period
that too could be under the 'other' research

its more a matter of finding out
why johnson wanted this fact specificly...picked out

it could be as simple as having a grant
and the numbers allready in a computer

without the source codes..[origonal pre/re-search]
being quoted specificly..its a buzz piece

""Study participants who reported having had a religious experience that changed their life were also found to have more atrophy in the hippocampus than those who did not.

The study measured relationships between religious factors and changes in the volume of the hippocampus over time in older adults. In standardised interviews,

268 people aged 58-84 were asked about their religious group, spiritual practices, and life-changing religious experiences.

Changes in the volume of their hippocampus were then tracked, using MRI scans, over a period of two to eight years.

Authors Amy Owen and David Hayward, both Ph.D research associates, said these findings...*were not explained by other factors related to hippocampal atrophy,..[such as age, education, social support from friends and family, being depressed, or brain size.]

In addition, other religious factors (such as prayer, meditation, or Bible study)...*did not predict changes in the volume of the hippocampus in this study.

The authors speculate that stress
might play a role in their findings.

This study is among the first to examine religious and spiritual links....*to changes in volume of specific areas in the brain,
and is the first to explore religious factors
such as life-changing religious experiences.

Rather than suggesting that...*particular religious experiences or groups should be avoided or promoted,..the emphasis of this study was to help clarify..possible relationships between religion and the brain,..the report added.

Other studies have suggested new thoughts actually create new neural connections.
Perhaps the overall size of the brain is less important than the number of synapses.
Who would have more 'new thoughts' I wonder? A committed Theist who accepts that 'this is so'? Or...