Each of us has a way of seeing the world, our own system of values and beliefs that make us observe, analyze and judge reality in a certain way. Within these value systems, a high proportion of the population includes spiritual and religious beliefs, in many cases acquired and assimilated through culture and education. And in some cases these beliefs and their reinforcement throughout life can give rise to inflexible interpretations about how the world is or should be.
Likewise, this lack of cognitive flexibility is not always a product of learning, but there are injuries and alterations in different parts of the brain that can make it difficult or even lose sufficient cognitive flexibility to accept other possible interpretations of reality, so that only one’s own beliefs are acceptable. We are talking about How a brain injury can cause religious fanaticism
Religious beliefs are understood to be that set of ideas considered true by the people who profess them and which usually include references to a specific way of seeing and interpreting existence and reality.
Together with other types of values and beliefs, they are part of the value system. from which we organize our actions and existence in the world They are a certain way of making sense of reality based on experience or information that has been transmitted by society and culture. In themselves they are neither positive nor negative, but rather another part of each person’s idiosyncrasy. And under normal conditions they are not necessarily exclusive with other forms of interpretation.
However, Sometimes people limit their perspective of reality to one or a specific group of beliefs, rejecting the possibility of the existence of other alternatives and considering one’s own as the only valid one.
If the defense of This belief system becomes vehement and passionate to the point of becoming irrational, tries to impose these beliefs on others and ruling out the possibility of criticism of them or the viability of other alternatives can be considered to be the presence of fanaticism. One of the main aspects that differentiates fanaticism from belief (whether religious or not) is the loss of cognitive flexibility and openness to new perspectives.
Cognitive flexibility
One of the main and most important executive functions, cognitive flexibility is that capacity that allows human beings to be able to modify their cognitions and behaviors based on new information coming from outside or from the processing and elaboration of this due to reasoning.
This capacity allows us to be able to face changes in the natural and social environment and makes us capable of surviving, generating new strategies and adopting new approaches. It serves to reorganize our mental structure and our value systems and beliefs according to existing information. Likewise, it allows us to learn from experience and connect with reality.
The absence or diminished presence of this capacity causes, on the contrary, that we are less prepared to face changes in the environment and accept the arrival of new developments that are unrelated to what we already know. Behavior and thinking become rigid and perseverant, and survival and adaptation are often difficult.
Data extracted from research: effects of lesions on the prefrontal
Different investigations have reported that part of the brain areas linked to our belief systems are linked to one of the most relevant brain regions for the social performance and functioning of human beings: the frontal cortex.
Specifically, a link has been detected between the ability to reorganize our cognition and beliefs based on experience and accept new possibilities and the ventromedial prefrontal area. This area helps regulate emotional perception and expression and has a strong implication in the management of motivation, response to the environment and human creativity.
Injuries in this area have been reported to reduce creative capacity and the imagination of the human being, in addition to his mental flexibility and the possibility of visualizing and understanding new perspectives. Openness to experience, one of the main personality traits, is also greatly reduced.
However, it must be taken into account that the data have been extracted from the analysis of a sample limited to different veterans of the Vietnam War with or without brain injuries, which implies that they are mostly American men of a certain age. and cultural characteristics and specific experiences and beliefs. In this way, the results can hardly be generalized to other cultures, religions or subjects with other characteristics.
Implications of these investigations
It is important to keep in mind that the data reflected by these investigations refer to the presence of fanaticism and the relationship between it and the loss of mental flexibility derived from brain injuries. It is not about attacking religious beliefs which are still a way of trying to organize and explain the world, which is not the intention of either this article or the research from which it is based.
Nor should we consider that all people who have a high level of religious fanaticism suffer from brain lesions or prefrontal problems, there being a great environmental and educational influence in the emergence and development of the ability to see and accept new perspectives or the difficulty in doing so.
What these researches do reflect is that certain brain injuries can cause a loss of cognitive flexibility that can lead to fanaticism. And not only to the religious, but also linked to other types of stimulations or beliefs
This research could help locate which brain areas are linked to beliefs and mental openness and contribute to establishing strategies and mechanisms from which to treat the presence of disorders in which mental rigidity and other alterations derived from injuries occur. and diseases.
