Prayer

Andrew Newberg on Prayer and the Brain: What Neuroscience Reveals

By Path of Light
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Andrew Newberg on Prayer and the Brain: What Neuroscience Reveals

TL;DR: Dr. Andrew Newberg, the father of neurotheology, has spent over 25 years scanning the brains of people in prayer using SPECT imaging. His research shows that prayer increases prefrontal cortex activity by 10–15%, reduces parietal lobe function (dissolving the sense of self-boundary), improves memory and cognition after just 8 weeks, and physically thickens neural pathways associated with compassion. This article is a comprehensive guide to one researcher's body of work — and what it means for your prayer life.

Table of Contents

Who Is Andrew Newberg?

Dr. Andrew Newberg is a neuroscientist, physician, and professor at Thomas Jefferson University and Hospital in Philadelphia. He serves as the Director of Research at the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health and has been studying the relationship between the brain and spiritual experience since the early 1990s.

Newberg earned his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania and completed his residency in internal medicine at the Graduate Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. His academic career took a defining turn when he began collaborating with the late Dr. Eugene d'Aquili, a psychiatrist and anthropologist at Penn who had theorized about the neurological basis of religious ritual as early as the 1970s.

Together, Newberg and d'Aquili developed a research program that would eventually give rise to an entirely new academic discipline. They didn't want to debunk faith or prove it — they wanted to understand what happens in the brain when a human being reaches out to God.

Over the past three decades, Newberg has authored or co-authored more than 250 peer-reviewed articles and 15 books, including the bestselling How God Changes Your Brain (2009), Why God Won't Go Away (2001), and Neurotheology: How Science Can Enlighten Us About Spirituality (2018). He has been featured on NPR, PBS, National Geographic, and in the New York Times, and his TED talk on neurotheology has been viewed millions of times.

But the significance of Andrew Newberg's work is not measured in media appearances. It is measured in brain scans — hundreds of them — that provide the first visual evidence of what happens inside the human brain during prayer.

The Birth of Neurotheology

The term "neurotheology" was popularized largely through Newberg's work, though the concept has roots in the writings of Aldous Huxley, who used the word in his 1962 novel Island. Newberg defines neurotheology as the interdisciplinary study of the relationship between the brain and theology, religious experience, and spirituality.

Neurotheology is not theology conducted by neuroscientists, nor is it neuroscience interpreted by theologians. It is a bridge discipline that takes both the empirical data of brain science and the experiential reports of spiritual practitioners seriously.

Newberg has articulated several foundational principles of neurotheology:

  1. Spiritual experiences are real experiences. Whether or not one believes they have a divine origin, people genuinely experience states of transcendence, peace, and unity during prayer. These experiences are accompanied by measurable changes in brain activity.

  2. The brain is the mediating organ. All human experience — including spiritual experience — involves the brain. Studying the brain during prayer does not reduce prayer to mere neurons firing; it reveals the mechanism through which the human person encounters the transcendent.

  3. Multiple perspectives are necessary. Neither neuroscience alone nor theology alone can fully explain what happens during prayer. Neurotheology requires a dialogue between the two.

  4. The research must be methodologically rigorous. Newberg insists on controlled studies, reproducible results, and peer-reviewed publication.

In his 2018 book Neurotheology, Newberg wrote: "The goal of neurotheology is not to prove or disprove God. The goal is to improve our understanding of the human condition — and the relationship between the brain and the deepest questions of human existence."

Inside the SPECT Scanner: How Newberg Studies Prayer

The primary tool in Newberg's research arsenal is SPECT imaging — Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography. Unlike a standard MRI, which shows brain structure, or even functional MRI (fMRI), which measures blood oxygenation, SPECT imaging uses a radioactive tracer injected into the bloodstream to create a three-dimensional map of blood flow in the brain at a specific moment in time.

Here is how a typical Newberg study works:

  1. Baseline scan. The participant sits quietly in a dimly lit room. A SPECT scan is performed to capture their normal resting brain activity.

  2. Prayer or meditation period. The participant then engages in their chosen form of prayer — contemplative prayer, speaking in tongues, centering prayer, Buddhist meditation, Islamic salat, or another practice. The prayer period typically lasts 30–60 minutes.

  3. Injection at peak experience. At the moment the participant signals that they have reached a state of deep prayer (or at a pre-determined time point), a research assistant injects the radioactive tracer through a long IV line — without entering the room or disturbing the participant.

  4. Second SPECT scan. Because the tracer is absorbed by the brain within seconds and then remains "locked in" for several hours, the participant can finish praying, leave the room, and undergo a second SPECT scan at leisure. The resulting image captures a snapshot of their brain activity at the exact moment the tracer was injected — the peak of prayer.

  5. Comparison. Newberg's team then compares the two scans — resting state versus prayer state — to identify which brain regions showed increased or decreased blood flow during prayer.

This methodology is elegant because it captures the brain in the act of prayer without requiring the participant to lie still inside a noisy MRI machine. The person can pray naturally, in their own way, in a quiet room — and the scan still captures the neural activity at the critical moment.

What Happens in Each Brain Region During Prayer

Across hundreds of SPECT scans of practitioners from multiple religious traditions, Newberg has documented a consistent pattern of brain changes during prayer:

Frontal Lobes (Prefrontal Cortex) — Increased Activity

The frontal lobes are the seat of attention, concentration, planning, and willful behavior. During prayer, Newberg consistently observes a 10–15% increase in blood flow to the prefrontal cortex. This makes neurological sense: prayer is an intentional, focused act. Whether you are reciting the Lord's Prayer, pouring out your heart in spontaneous petition, or silently resting in God's presence, your frontal lobes are engaged.

This increased frontal activity also correlates with enhanced emotional regulation. The prefrontal cortex acts as a "brake" on the amygdala — the brain's fear center. When the frontal lobes are more active, you are better able to manage anxiety, resist impulsive reactions, and respond to situations with wisdom rather than panic. This is the neural substrate of what Paul describes in 2 Timothy 1:7: "For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control."

Parietal Lobes — Decreased Activity

The parietal lobes, located near the top and back of the brain, are responsible for processing spatial orientation and creating the sense of where your body ends and the rest of the world begins. Newberg calls this the "orientation association area."

During deep contemplative prayer, blood flow to the parietal lobes decreases significantly. The result is a blurring of the boundary between self and non-self — which corresponds to the experience many mystics and devout Christians describe as "union with God," "being held by the divine," or "losing oneself in God's presence."

Newberg emphasizes that this does not mean the experience is "just" a brain glitch. The parietal lobe changes may be the neurological mechanism through which the human brain opens itself to transcendent experience — a mechanism that God may have designed into our very neurology.

Limbic System (Thalamus and Hypothalamus) — Complex Changes

The thalamus, a relay station deep in the brain, shows increased activity during prayer. The thalamus integrates sensory information and plays a key role in consciousness and alertness. Newberg found that increased thalamic activity during prayer correlates with a heightened sense of reality — prayer practitioners often report that their experience of God feels "more real than ordinary reality," and the thalamic activation may explain why.

The hypothalamus, which regulates the autonomic nervous system, shifts toward parasympathetic dominance during prayer — reducing heart rate, lowering blood pressure, and decreasing cortisol production. This is the body's "rest and digest" response, and it is the physiological foundation of the peace that prayer brings.

Anterior Cingulate Cortex — Increased Activity

The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is associated with empathy, compassion, and emotional awareness. Newberg found that long-term prayer practitioners show enhanced ACC activity not only during prayer but also at rest — suggesting that years of prayer literally rewire the brain for greater compassion. This aligns with the biblical teaching that prayer transforms character: "Be transformed by the renewal of your mind" (Romans 12:2).

The 2010 Alzheimer's Study: 12 Minutes That Change Your Brain

One of Newberg's most widely cited studies was published in 2010 in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. The study examined 15 older adults with memory problems who were assigned to practice Kirtan Kriya meditation (a practice that includes a combination of singing, finger movements, and visualization) for just 12 minutes per day over 8 weeks.

The results were striking:

While this specific study used Kirtan Kriya (a practice from the Sikh tradition), Newberg has stated in subsequent publications and lectures that the findings are applicable to any focused contemplative practice, including Christian prayer. The key variables are consistency (daily practice), focus (concentrated attention on the divine), and duration (at least 12 minutes).

A follow-up study published in Consciousness and Cognition (2015) extended these findings, showing that the brain changes persisted and even deepened over longer periods of practice — suggesting that prayer creates lasting neuroplastic changes, not merely temporary states.

For Christians, this research carries a powerful implication: the biblical command to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17) is not just spiritual advice. It is a prescription for neurological health. Even 12 minutes of daily prayer physically strengthens the brain regions responsible for memory, focus, and emotional balance.

"How God Changes Your Brain": Key Findings

Newberg's most accessible work, How God Changes Your Brain (co-authored with Mark Robert Waldman, 2009), synthesizes decades of research into a book written for general audiences. The key findings include:

1. Contemplating a loving God strengthens the brain. When participants meditated on a God they perceived as loving, compassionate, and forgiving, their prefrontal cortex activity increased — boosting empathy, emotional regulation, and cognitive function.

2. Contemplating an angry, punitive God damages the brain. When participants focused on a God they perceived as wrathful, punishing, or distant, their amygdala — the brain's fear center — became hyperactive, increasing anxiety, stress, and negative emotional states. This finding has significant pastoral implications: the image of God we hold in our minds physically shapes our neural architecture.

3. Prayer builds compassion circuits. Long-term prayer practitioners showed thicker neural pathways in the anterior cingulate cortex, the brain region associated with empathy. The more years someone had been praying regularly, the more developed these compassion circuits were.

4. Even brief practices produce measurable changes. As demonstrated in the Alzheimer's study, 12 minutes of daily practice for 8 weeks was sufficient to produce observable changes in brain function and structure.

5. The brain cannot distinguish between God as imagined and God as experienced. Newberg notes that the brain responds to prayer as it would to any real, relational encounter. The neural activity during prayer more closely resembles the brain during conversation with a trusted friend than during abstract thinking or visualization. This does not prove God exists, but it strongly suggests that the brain "treats" the experience of prayer as genuinely relational.

Newberg's Studies on Different Prayer Traditions

One of the most fascinating aspects of Newberg's body of work is his comparative studies across religious traditions. He has scanned the brains of Franciscan nuns during centering prayer, Pentecostal Christians during glossolalia (speaking in tongues), Tibetan Buddhist monks during meditation, Sikh practitioners during Kirtan Kriya, and Islamic practitioners during dhikr.

Franciscan Nuns: Centering Prayer

Newberg's studies of Franciscan nuns during centering prayer — a practice of sitting silently in God's presence, often repeating a sacred word — showed the classic pattern: increased prefrontal cortex activity, decreased parietal lobe activity, and enhanced thalamic function. The nuns reported a sense of being "absorbed in God's love" that corresponded precisely with the parietal lobe deactivation.

Pentecostal Glossolalia

In a landmark 2006 study published in Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, Newberg scanned the brains of Pentecostal Christians while they spoke in tongues. The results were surprising and unique: unlike every other prayer or meditation practice he had studied, glossolalia showed a decrease in frontal lobe activity. The practitioners' language centers were active, but their volitional control centers were not — they were speaking, but they were not "directing" the speech.

This finding fascinated Newberg because it aligned with the Pentecostal theological understanding that speaking in tongues is not self-generated but is the Holy Spirit speaking through the individual. As Paul writes in Romans 8:26: "The Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words." The SPECT scans showed a brain state consistent with that description — language without self-directed control.

Common Ground Across Traditions

Despite differences across practices, Newberg identified several neural commonalities: increased frontal activity (in all practices except glossolalia), decreased parietal activity, and enhanced thalamic function. He interprets this as evidence that the human brain has a built-in capacity for transcendent experience — what he calls a "neurological basis for spiritual experience" that may have been designed into our physiology.

The Theological Implications: Does Neuroscience Prove God?

Newberg is careful to avoid overclaiming. In his 2018 book Neurotheology, he explicitly states: "Neuroscience cannot prove or disprove the existence of God. What it can do is show that spiritual experiences are associated with real, measurable changes in brain function — and that these experiences have profound effects on health, cognition, and well-being."

From a Christian perspective, Newberg's findings can be interpreted as evidence of divine design. If the human brain is "wired for God" — if prayer activates health-promoting neural pathways, builds compassion, and strengthens cognition — this is consistent with the biblical claim that we are made in God's image (Genesis 1:27) and designed for communion with Him.

The Psalmist wrote: "As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God" (Psalm 42:1). Newberg's SPECT scans may be capturing what that panting looks like in neural terms — a brain reaching for its Creator, and finding itself transformed in the process.

C.S. Lewis put it differently: "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." The neurological evidence suggests that when we pray, we activate the part of our brain that was made for that other world.

Criticisms and Limitations of Newberg's Work

No scientific research exists without criticism, and Newberg's work is no exception. The most common critiques include:

Small sample sizes. Many of Newberg's early studies involved fewer than 10 participants. While the consistency of results across studies is encouraging, larger trials are needed for definitive conclusions.

Selection bias. Newberg's participants are typically experienced practitioners who have been praying or meditating for years, sometimes decades. Their brains may have already been different before they began praying.

Correlation vs. causation. SPECT scans show what the brain does during prayer, but they cannot prove that prayer causes the changes. It is possible that the act of focused attention — regardless of its spiritual content — produces similar effects.

Cultural and theological bias. Some critics argue that studying prayer in a laboratory setting strips it of its relational and communal context. Others worry that framing prayer in neurological terms reduces it to a brain phenomenon.

Newberg himself acknowledges these limitations and has worked to address them through larger studies, longitudinal designs, and careful qualification of his claims. He has consistently emphasized that neuroimaging reveals mechanism, not meaning — it shows how prayer affects the brain, not why prayer exists or whether God hears it.

What Newberg's Research Means for Your Prayer Life

Andrew Newberg's decades of research offer several practical insights for Christians who want to deepen their prayer lives:

1. Pray with consistency. The strongest neural effects come from daily practice sustained over weeks and months. Sporadic prayer does not produce the same neuroplastic changes. Set a time, choose a place, and show up every day — even if it's only 12 minutes.

2. Focus on God's love. Newberg's finding that contemplating a loving God strengthens the brain while contemplating a punitive God activates the fear center has direct implications for how we pray. Approach God as the loving Father Jesus revealed Him to be. "See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God" (1 John 3:1).

3. Don't rush through prayer. The deepest brain changes — especially the parietal lobe deactivation associated with a sense of God's presence — occur during sustained, unhurried prayer. Set aside enough time to move past the initial restlessness and into genuine communion.

4. Combine different prayer styles. Newberg's comparative studies suggest that different prayer practices activate different brain regions. Integrating Scripture reading, spontaneous petition, silent contemplation, and worship music into your prayer life engages the full range of your neurology.

5. Trust the process. Even when prayer feels dry or unproductive, your brain is still changing. The SPECT scans reveal neural changes that occur below the threshold of conscious awareness. As Galatians 6:9 reminds us: "Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."

FAQ

What is neurotheology?

Neurotheology is the interdisciplinary study of the relationship between neuroscience and religious or spiritual experience. Pioneered by Dr. Andrew Newberg at Thomas Jefferson University, it uses brain imaging to understand what happens neurologically during prayer, meditation, and other spiritual practices.

What type of brain scan does Andrew Newberg use?

Newberg primarily uses SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography) imaging, which measures blood flow in the brain at a specific moment. This allows him to capture a snapshot of brain activity during the peak of a prayer experience without disturbing the participant.

What did Newberg's research find about speaking in tongues?

In a 2006 study published in Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, Newberg found that speaking in tongues uniquely showed decreased frontal lobe activity — unlike all other prayer forms studied. This means the language centers were active but the volitional control centers were not, consistent with the theological understanding that glossolalia is Spirit-directed rather than self-directed.

Can 12 minutes of prayer really change your brain?

Yes. Newberg's 2010 study in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease demonstrated that 12 minutes of daily focused contemplative practice over 8 weeks produced measurable improvements in cerebral blood flow (10–15% increase), memory, mood, and even telomerase activity (43% increase).

Does Newberg's research prove that God exists?

No. Newberg is explicit that neuroscience cannot prove or disprove God's existence. What his research shows is that prayer produces real, measurable changes in brain structure and function — and that the brain appears to be designed for transcendent experience.

What is the most important brain change during prayer?

The most distinctive change is the simultaneous increase in prefrontal cortex activity (attention, compassion, emotional regulation) and decrease in parietal lobe activity (sense of self-boundary). This dual shift corresponds to the experience of focused, self-transcending communion with God.

Deepen Your Prayer Life with Path of Light

Andrew Newberg's research shows that consistent, daily prayer physically transforms your brain — building compassion, strengthening memory, reducing anxiety, and opening your awareness to God's presence. But knowing this is not enough. The transformation comes from the practice itself.

Path of Light is your daily Christian companion on WhatsApp. Every morning, you receive a personalized devotional with guided prayer, Scripture reflection, and spiritual encouragement — designed to help you build the consistent prayer habit that Newberg's research shows is essential for lasting brain and spiritual transformation.

Whether you are beginning your prayer journey or seeking to go deeper after decades of faith, Path of Light meets you where you are with content tailored to your spiritual life.

Start your daily prayer practice with Path of Light on WhatsApp -> https://wa.me/5511936207610

Path of Light is an AI-powered Christian companion on WhatsApp. We deliver personalized devotionals, prayer guidance, and Scripture reflections every day.

Last updated: March 13, 2026

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