Faith eases pain.It’s a commonly used — if somewhat abstract maxim — but, according to a recent study, it may be more true than you might think. In a study conducted by neuroscientists at the University of Oxford, the old saying was put to the test.Science News reports the Oxford team assembled a test group of 12 active Catholics and 12 professed atheists and agnostics. The subjects were given an MRI while looking at a generic painting by Leonardo Da Vinci.They then received electric shocks to one of their hands. Talk about a long release waiver.The scientists then switched the generic painting with a portrait of the Virgin Mary, and repeated the experiment, using the same voltage for the shock.The Catholics actually experienced less pain when looking at the Virgin Mary picture. The non-religious subjects showed no change.Apparently the religious mood brought on by the picture actually caused a slight reduction in the amount of pain their brain processed.Study co-author Irene Tracey said “Our data suggest that religious belief alters the brain in a way that changes how a person responds to pain.” MRI Data indicated the religious image stimulated greatly increased activity in the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, which has been linked in other studies to pain relief resulting from emotional states or perceived pain control.The study will be published in the scientific journal Pain. Apparently there’s a whole scientific journal devoted to this kind of thing.The study authors theorize that the image of the Virgin Mary prompted the Catholics to call upon their faith, creating “feelings of tranquility and peace” that lessened the impact of the shock.The data resulting from this experiment raises some interesting issues. The study report brought up the issue of martyrs and others who are persecuted for their faith, suggesting such people may have been more able to endure physical hardship more stoically because their religious fervor mitigated the sensation of pain.A more pressing question can also be asked in the wake of the experiment: If faith is just another brain reaction, doesn’t this cast some doubt on the mysterious nature of belief in a higher power?It’s a good question, but it can be easily answered. If a god did create us to be faithful beings, doesn’t it make sense that he would do it within his own creation structure? Just because faith in something beyond the physical world has some kind of root in the physical world doesn’t mean that faith is meaningless.But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.For any solid conclusions to be drawn, the study must be repeated and re-analyzed elsewhere. It is imperative that other faith backgrounds, other religions and denominations be subjected to the test. Is this religious analgesic limited to Catholics? Would a picture of Jesus inhibit more pain that that of his mother? Is the pain relief really brought on by some sort of religious revelry, or is the image just a form of distraction that draws brainpower away from the physical suffering — the old shoot yourself in the foot to take away the pain in your leg theory? Only more testing can prove conclusively.Perhaps the University should conduct our own version of the test. I’m obviously not endorsing some kind of impromptu citizen science. Don’t hook your atheist friends up to a car battery and see if they feel it more. But if the study means what the Oxford team thinks it means, these implications are worth exploring. —-Contact Matthew Albright at [email protected]