Neuroscience and Spirituality Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 12750 words

Neuroscience and Spirituality - Dissertation Example In recent years however, there is a growing interest in how spirituality or religion may play a role in managing mental and physical health and this interest has led to the exploration of the changes that spirituality or meditative practice may bring about in the human mind. This chapter contains a review and critical analysis of the available literature and research on the topic of neuroscience and spirituality. The aim of the chapter is to present and evaluate the evidence that backs the linkages between spirituality or meditation and brain activity using scientific empirical methods. There is a growing field of neuroscience that aims to understand the specific impacts of spirituality, religiosity and meditation on the brain functions and correspondingly on the mental and the physical health of the human beings. The current review is an attempt to collate and critically assess the available research in terms of the validity of the findings and claims and the validity of the methodo logy that has been employed by the numerous scholars. This niche field is still in a growing stage and most of the research undertaken is exploratory in nature, and hence a review of the available work in the area is expected to provide an understanding of what is already known and what potential future research may hold for the topic. This chapter is divided into sections that follow a logical structure from an overview of the methods, tools and techniques that are being employed and the approaches or hypothesis used in recent meditation studies. Next, the review focuses on the changes that occur in the brain during spiritual experience or among people who are high on religiosity. Finally, the literature review delves deeply into the analysis and evaluation of available research that are aimed at specific impacts of meditation, namely, attention and arousal, immunity, self-regulation and emotions, and pain management. 2.2 Meditation Studies There has been a large number of scholars who have aimed to assess the impact of meditation on the human brain and hence on the body functions. The studies are methodologically designed to assess autoimmune indicators like the blood pressure or the heart rate, hormonal indicators or immunity markers, and more recently, electroencephalographic (EEG) and brain scanning techniques to directly view the changes in the neural reactions. Meditation is the technique of focusing on the breath and proactively ignoring the thoughts. It is said to lead to physiological changes that are found to produce a body relaxation response (Newberg and Iversen, 2003). Several researchers have found that the physiological indicators of blood pressure and heart rate are decreased during a mediation phase. Early research conducted by Banquet (1973) had already established that the EEG patterns for people doing meditation are different from those people not doing meditation. In addition, it has also been found that sleep EEG patterns are different f rom the meditation EEG patterns, indicating that meditation involves a more powerful neural activity that is not seen during sleep. There are studies that have found that an increased alpha-wave activity in the frontal area associated with meditation (Al-Kandari), a change in heart rate and blood pressure (Koeing et al, 1998) and cortisol levels (Sudsuang et al., 1991). Most of the studies mentioned above have been done from an earlier era where neuroimaging was not available. However, with the advent of technologies like functional imaging

Money Cannot Substitute Passion :: Personal Narrative, Autobiographical Essay

Money Cannot Substitute Passion "Tuan, this is the last time I'm going to tell you, you better clean the house." said my father. "I'll do it later," I replied. "Later?" he said. "Why don't you just make some money and hire a maid to do it. Then you don't have to worry about it!" Coming from a blue-collar background, my father constantly reminded me of the importance of money. It was many years ago that he arrived in this country, carrying me in one arm and his hopes and dreams on the other. It was upon arriving in the advertised land of opportunity that he quickly learned that money was the only ticket to upward mobility. It was rough in the beginning. My father was forced to scrape and save in hopes of providing us with a better home. A family of four, we shared a bedroom in which we all slept together, never separated by more than a few inches apart. We did not have much except the daily warmth and undying devotion for one another. Through diligence and sacrifice, his hard work paid off and newfound success smiled upon us, changing our lives forever. As our new home quickly filled with all the luxuries and amenities the newly reaped profits and investments could afford, it seemed to become emptier to me. Money soon became a substitute for our slowly vanishing relationships. Lazy Sundays spent with him at the Japanese gardens feeding goldfish were replaced by late nights at the store and a brand spanking new widescreen television. The once friendly dinner table where our lives were intertwined through bowels of rice porridge and bean sprouts was abandoned for meals in seclusion. We ate not together, but in our own rooms. The doors and the walls sealing us off in our own separate worlds, closing us off from one another, and hence leaving only a bad taste lingering inside of me. It was not until I left home for college that I was able to fully comprehend what was happening. You see, I lived on the inside and my father lived on the outside. Standing on the hilltop of the university, I am able to look out and see all the possibilities my brick and ivy education has opened up for me.

A Paper on Domestic Violence

Domestic violence is phenomenal societal problems that are plaguing human society at the present times which victims are mostly women and children.   They are usually victims of physical or sexual assault.Because women are prone to be victims of domestic violence, Feminist expressed concern about the widespread problem plaguing the present generation and struggle towards getting protection for women from the court.Although, most of the offenses were hidden under family affairs, Carol Bolimer, Jennyfer Brandth, Denise Bronson, and Helen Hartnett, in their article, Domestic Violence Law Reforms: Reaction from the Trenches, say that, Feminists are gaining success in their efforts, as criminal justice personnel are now getting   more objective investigative in handling domestic violence cases.But despite of this hundreds of thousands of American women and children suffer domestic violence each year, studies have shown that sixty percent up to seventy-five percent of families fall vic tims to domestic violence every year; and this problem has already taken thousands of women’s lives.What is domestic violence? How can one determine that he or she is standing on that very dangerous ground?   And what are the solutions to the problem, are some of the contents that this paper attempts to present.Definitions of Domestic ViolenceDomestic violence is defined as a continuum of behavior ranging from verbal abuse, physical and sexual assault, to rape and even homicide.   Most of the cases of domestic violence are perpetuated by â€Å"men against women and their children† In C.J. Newton’s article, domestic violence â€Å"an overview,† he presented a United States Department of Justice report published in May 2000 through the National Crime Victimization Survey and the FBI data, defining domestic violence as â€Å"violent crimes by current or former spouses, boyfriend and girlfriend.   In their definition of violent, it includes lethal (hom icide) and non lethal which they enumerated as rape, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault.   The report mentions more than one million crimes committed against persons by the current or former spouses.Deborah Lockton, LLB, MPhil and Professor Richard Ward LLB, identified domestic violence as an act of physical and mental cruelty progressing from a slap or shore, to punch or kick, and to the more extreme manifestation of violence, in suffocation, strangulation, attempted murder and murder.†Causes of Domestic ViolenceDifferent group of people explained the causes of domestic violence, however, as one analyze the causes of the problem, they are similar in terms of gender roles which is fact has something to do with the cultural and historical origin of family.   It is also noted that, changes in terms of roles contributed a lot in the existence of this particular problem.According to feminism, one of the causes of domestic violence is the legal syst em which in their view is patriarchal on several levels. They argue that the law is â€Å"sexist in that it generally treats men better than women.†Ã‚   They emphasized that the criminal justice personnel prior to their effort to gain equal rights with men, treats domestic violence as a family matter and out of the reach of the legal system.They also reveal that police would simply â€Å"take perpetrator for a walk to discuss keeping the little woman in line† and then return her home without further action.†Ã‚   Kristin L. Anderson says Feminist emphasized that domestic violence is â€Å"rooted in gender and power and represents men’s active attempts to maintain dominance and control† (Anderson, 1997).   Feminist sociologist maintains that the main cause of domestic violence is the issue of gender and power.Anderson pointed out that Feminist contend that this is a system of which men â€Å"maintain societal dominance over women.†Ã‚   Lockto n and Ward say, domestic violence continues for years, before the victims take action which sometimes results to the death of either the victim or the perpetrator.But sociologist finds other causes of domestic violence.   They suggested that cohabiting status, unemployment and socio-economic status rank as one of the causes of domestic violence (UNICEF).They agreed that main causes of domestic violence pertain to unequal power relations.   Family institution, where traditional control lies with husband as the head of the family, is seen as breeding ground for domestic violence too.   Beliefs in male traditional superiority and other sanctions that do not recognize women’s and children’s legal rights in the society are also seen as causes of domestic violence plaguing human society worldwide.Nowadays, domestic violence includes physical aggression in which the perpetrator controls the victim by using fear and force.   It occurs usually in traditional marriages o r same-sex relationship especially when relationship is in the verge of collapse.

Hinduism An Influential Aspect Of Lifestyle - 1049 Words

Modernity is an influential aspect of lifestyle that alters continuously to adapt to the present time period. It is defined in numerous ways, while the closest one relating to contemporary India is the time we are present in as impacted by reforms. Reforms that occurred gradually changing the time period along with the lifestyles of the people in India in manners such as the way they lived their daily lives, what they believed in, what practices they performed, etc. A prominent feature that influenced the life pertaining to the guide to live was religion; Hinduism. Hinduism passed through various reforms that shaped it in one way or another. Hinduism is what it is due to the reforms such as the British colonization, the diaspora of Hindu communities, and historical context. The evolution of Hinduism has occurred many times that it emerged countless branches that each holds it’s own interpretation to what is crucial. This change lead to the creations of organizations each promo ting its biased ways. Hatcher’s edited volume, Hinduism in the Modern World, illustrates the alterations in the religion due to reforms which represent the biased promotions of the religion by the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha’s film, â€Å"Mystic India†. It is vividly present in the content of both the volume and the organization that BAPS is simply just showing the image it wants to create whether one is more factual than the other or not. The Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) isShow MoreRelatedCultural Convergence And Its Effects On People s Lives994 Words   |  4 Pagesan American visiting a third world country, whose way of communicating, dressing, and greeting could be a lesson to a third world person about American lifestyles. Likewise, people learn western lifestyles through experiencing western music, movies, and other media and interpret those experiences in their societies. 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