Belief activates distinct brain regions

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers have identified specific brain regions that become active when people express belief or disbelief in statements.

UCLA scientists conducted function magnetic resonance imaging studies of 14 adults while study participants made decisions about their belief in a variety of statements. Statements were from a broad range of categories, including mathematics, geography, autobiography and religion.

Belief in a statement was associated with increased activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, which is involved in linking factual knowledge with emotion.

"The fact that ethical belief showed a similar pattern of activation to mathematical belief suggests the physiological difference between belief and disbelief is not related to content or emotional associations," the researchers said.

Disbelief was associated with increased activity in the anterior insula, a region involved in the sensation of taste, the perception of pain and the feeling of disgust. The authors theorize "false propositions might actually disgust us."

The researchers said their findings raise the possibility that belief might be reliably distinguished from disbelief by neuroimaging techniques, with implications for the detection of deception.

The study led by Sam Harris appears in the journal Annals of Neurology.