Haverkamp Egbert, Olsman Erik, Ćurčić-Blake Branislava, Vila Ramírez Víctor, Aleman André, Ket Johannes C F, Schaap-Jonker Hanneke
Community and Care, Protestant Theological University, Utrecht, Netherlands.
Cognitive Neuroscience Center, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands.
Front Psychol. 2025 Jun 18;16:1569514. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1569514. eCollection 2025.
It has become increasingly accepted within psychotherapy to incorporate various forms of spirituality and religiosity to address the rising prevalence of mental health issues. This is well-founded, as a growing number of findings report benefits of spiritual practices for individuals experiencing depression, anxiety, and stress. However, science-based guidelines on how to embed spiritual practices in therapeutic interventions have not been developed, as the mechanisms by which human cognition, spirituality, and mental health interact-positively or negatively-remain largely unknown. Considering one of the most widely practiced religious behaviors worldwide, prayer, it is posited that the experience of interacting with God is psychologically comparable to human attachment bonds that are strongly associated with mental health.
This systematic review assesses the attachment to God hypothesis by providing an overview of the neural regions implicated in Christian prayer and attachment relationships, exploring their potential convergence. A systematic search was conducted in eight databases, resulting in 44 included records that examine brain activity during prayer or the activation of the attachment system in adults.
Evidence was found for convergence between prayer and neural correlates associated with the mentalizing module of attachment, comprising the default mode network (DMN) and areas associated with theory of mind (ToM), both related to social cognition. No significant differences were observed between prayer and attachment in regions connected to the approach and emotion (self-)regulation modules of attachment, whereas findings diverged for the aversion module of attachment, particularly in the insula.
The findings highlight shared cognitive and affective dimensions of attachment and prayer. Future research is warranted to identify whether neural patterns observed in different attachment styles coincide with distinct neural patterns of (Christian) prayer, so that both positive and negative effects of prayer can be better understood and integrated into psychotherapy.
在心理治疗中，纳入各种形式的灵性和宗教信仰以应对心理健康问题日益普遍的现象已越来越被人们所接受。这是有充分依据的，因为越来越多的研究结果表明，灵性实践对患有抑郁症、焦虑症和压力的个体有益。然而，尚未制定出基于科学的关于如何将灵性实践融入治疗干预的指南，因为人类认知、灵性和心理健康之间积极或消极相互作用的机制在很大程度上仍然未知。考虑到祈祷是全球最广泛实践的宗教行为之一，有人认为与上帝互动的体验在心理上与与心理健康密切相关的人类依恋关系具有可比性。
本系统评价通过概述与基督教祈祷和依恋关系相关的神经区域，探索它们的潜在趋同，来评估对上帝的依恋假说。在八个数据库中进行了系统检索，结果有44条纳入记录，这些记录研究了成年人祈祷时的大脑活动或依恋系统的激活情况。
发现祈祷与与依恋的心理化模块相关的神经关联之间存在趋同，该模块包括默认模式网络（DMN）和与心理理论（ToM）相关的区域，两者均与社会认知有关。在与依恋的接近和情绪（自我）调节模块相连的区域中，祈祷和依恋之间未观察到显著差异，而在依恋的厌恶模块中，尤其是在脑岛，研究结果有所不同。
研究结果突出了依恋和祈祷共有的认知和情感维度。未来有必要进行研究，以确定在不同依恋风格中观察到的神经模式是否与（基督教）祈祷的不同神经模式相吻合，以便更好地理解祈祷的积极和消极影响，并将其纳入心理治疗。
