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The neurotransmitter oxytocin, which is involved in affiliative social processes and positive emotions, might be linked to spirituality, broadly defined as the individual's sense of interconnectedness or orientation to a transcendent reality. To learn more, investigators enrolled 83 men who were not regular meditators (mean age, 45; 87% white; 51% Christian; 39% agnostic or atheist), in a randomized, double-blind laboratory study.
Participants received intranasal oxytocin or placebo 40 minutes before filling out scales on spirituality and religiosity. After a 20-minute guided meditation, they completed measures of implicit and explicit positive and negative emotions experienced during the meditation. Spirituality measures were repeated a wee…