André Aleman

2 papers in the library · 1 citation · publishing 2025

Papers

The convergent neuroscience of Christian prayer and attachment relationships in the context of mental health: a systematic review.

Frontiers in Psychology January 1, 2025 Egbert Haverkamp, Erik Olsman, Branislava Ćurčić-blake et al. 1 citation

Prayer, one of the most widespread religious practices, may work psychologically like human attachment bonds, which are strongly linked to mental health. This systematic review of 44 studies examined brain activity during Christian prayer and during activation of the attachment system in adults. Evidence showed convergence between prayer and neural areas involved in social cognition, specifically the default mode network and theory of mind regions. No significant differences emerged between prayer and attachment in brain regions linked to emotion regulation, but findings diverged for the aversion module, particularly in the insula. The shared cognitive and affective dimensions suggest prayer could be integrated into psychotherapy, though more research is needed.

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1569514 Full text Christianity Adult attachment Mental health Neuroimaging +4

Challenging the notion of a task-negative network: default mode network involvement under varying levels of cognitive effort

Sarah Weber, André Aleman, Kenneth Hugdahl preprint

The brain's default mode network (DMN), traditionally considered a task-negative network active during rest, and the extrinsic mode network (EMN), active during demanding tasks, both contribute to low-effort cognitive processing. Using fMRI with a Stroop task, participants alternated between rest, low effort (word reading), and high effort (color naming). The DMN was more active during low effort than high effort, showing gradual regulation based on demand. The typical anti-correlation between DMN and EMN occurred only during low effort, not rest or high effort. This challenges the view of the DMN as solely task-negative, suggesting both networks support low-effort cognition, while rest and high effort are dominated by DMN and EMN respectively.

DOI: 10.1101/2021.11.03.466925