In religious rituals, people often feel a strong togetherness. Researchers have now experimentally investigated which messenger substances in the brain convey this feeling. In two different cultural contexts – a yoga class in England and an umbanda ritual in Brazil – they blocked the opioid receptors of some participants. They then felt significantly less connected to others than the comparison group.
Religious rituals occur in many different human cultures and often play an important role in keeping a society together. The rituals usually contain numerous components that are suitable for strengthening the sense of community, including music and synchronous movements. Studies suggest that opioids, such as endorphins, are released in the brain. These messenger substances relieve pain and create euphoria. They could also play a role in social ties.
The neurochemistry of community spirit
Researchers led by Sarah Charles from Coventry University in England have now tested directly for the first time how the body’s own opioids affect the sense of community in religious rituals. To do this, they first examined nine European participants in a yoga class in England. To determine the influence of the opioids, the researchers administered the drug naltrexone to half of the volunteers just before the yoga class. This blocks the opioid receptors, thus preventing opioids from developing their effect. Usually naltrexone is used in withdrawal therapy for opioid addicts. The other half of the volunteers received a placebo.
Before and after the yoga class, all test subjects completed a questionnaire in which they were asked, among other things, to rate on a scale from one to seven how much they like the other participants, how much they trust them and how strongly they feel connected to them . As expected, the people in the placebo group reported high levels of attachment after doing various yoga positions and spiritual exercises with the others for an hour. However, this effect was not seen in people who received naltrexone. On average, they even felt less connected to each other than before. Despite the small number of participants, this difference was statistically significant.
Effects independent of the cultural context
To validate the results, Charles and her team carried out another study in a completely different cultural context: This time, the subjects were 24 men and women who participated in an umbanda ritual in Brazil. Umbanda is an Afro-Brazilian religion that combines spiritual elements with African dances and Roman Catholic prayers. Eleven of the subjects received naltrexone, the others formed the placebo group. They also filled out a questionnaire before and after the ritual.
“The subjects who received naltrexone showed significantly lower levels of attachment after the ritual than the placebo group,” the researchers report in their publication. “This confirms the results of the first study, with a larger sample and in a completely different religious and cultural context. This suggests that the endorphin effect is independent of the cultural context. ”According to the researchers, other messenger substances such as oxytocin and dopamine can also play a role, but are apparently less influential than the endorphins. “Our studies are the first to examine the pharmacological basis for the role of religious rituals in social bonding. They give an initial insight into the neurochemical mechanisms underlying the social bond through rituals, ”said the researchers.
Source: Sarah Charles (Coventry University, UK) et al., Royal Society Biology Letters, doi: 10.1098 / rsbl.2020.0485