PART THREE: The Brain and Belief

Program 06-12-03-A

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One of the Dalai Lama's favorite places in America is a neurobiology lab at the University of Wisconsin. Researchers there are putting Buddhist monks inside brain scanners, looking for scientific proof that meditation works. In other labs across the country, radiologists are watching nuns pray and gene hunters are decoding the genetics of faith. In this hour we'll look at the emerging biology of belief.

SEGMENT 1:

Independent producer Karen Michel reports that some of the country's leading neuro-biologists are collaborating with Buddhist monks in an effort to understand the effects of meditation on the mind and the brain. Karen goes into Richie Davidson's lab at the University of Wisconsin to check out his findings. Also, Andrew Newberg directs the Center for Spirituality and the Mind at the University of Pennsylvania. He's the author of "Why We Believe What We Believe." Newberg tells Steve Paulson what brain imaging technology can tell us about the experiences of Franciscan nuns and Pentecostalists at prayer.

SEGMENT 2:

Ordinary people share their first memories of God or the first time they were sure god didn't exist. Also, molecular biologist Dean Hamer tells Steve Paulson that human beings are hard-wired for belief and are genetically pre-disposed to reach beyond their own limitations.

SEGMENT 3:

Deborah Blum is the author of "Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life after Death." She talks with Anne Strainchamps about the serious scientific effort undertaken by an elite group of scientists and scholars a hundred years ago to investigate the supernatural. What they found was mostly fraud. Also, Bruce Greyson is considered the father of research into the Near Death Experience. He's the Director of the Division of Perceptual Studies at the University of Virginia and edits the Journal of Near-Death Studies. Greyson tells Jim Fleming what scientific basis there is for believing in NDEs.

CD copies are available at 1-800-747-7444. Ask for program number 06-12-03-A.

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Books:

Deborah Blum , Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life after Death (Penguin)
Andrew Newberg, Why We Believe What We Believe (Simon & Schuster)
Dean Hamer, The God Gene (Knopf)

Music:

• Sweet Hour of Prayer, Anonymous 4
• Calling All Angels, Jane Siberry
  

Distribution dates:

week of 07/22/2007 - hour 2 week of 12/03/2006 - hour 1

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Questions and comments can be addressed to: flemingj@wpr.org