NCJ Number
227101
Journal
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Volume: 78 Issue: 5 Dated: May 2009 Pages: 26-32
Date Published
May 2009
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This article explores how spiritual experiences can reverse the negative impact of noxious ones on brain functioning and enhance individual well-being.
Abstract
Research specific to the law enforcement profession has revealed the importance of spirituality to its members. Findings suggest that brain functioning is fundamental to both spiritual experiences and the complex decision that law enforcement officers must make every day. The brain is the interface between human beings and their world. Brain functioning changes sensations into perceptions and thoughts into actions. Reverberations in brain circuits lead to conscious experience; these reverberations also structurally alter the brain. Stressful experiences change brain regions involved in memory and emotions, impairing memory and increasing anxiety and aggression. Spiritual experiences modify frontal executive regions, wherein these areas become more coherent leading to more effective thinking and planning. Higher frontal coherence is correlated with higher moral reasoning, greater emotional stability, and decreased anxiety. Spiritual experiences enliven executive brain circuits to buffer the impact of noxious experiences and therefore could contribute to higher well-being. 31 endnotes