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Story Publication logo December 5, 2016

Erik Vance Interview with Radio West

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Marcus Sapere practices Reiki massage on a client in his office in Alameda, California. Reiki is based on the idea that sickness is caused by the changes in energy and that a therapist can manipulate that energy with his hands and mind. Image by Erika Larsen.
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Inside our heads is an ancient power. A tool of miracle-workers, charlatans, witch doctors...

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Image by Erika Larson.

Researcher Jeffrey Anderson says Karl Marx wasn't far off when he likened religion to opium. Anderson is a neuroradiologist at the University of Utah, and he's been studying how the brain reacts to religious experiences.

What he's found is that religion works like love, gambling, drugs, and music: they all light up the brain's reward center.

On Radio West, Anderson discusses his findings with Pulitzer Center grantee Erik Vance, whose cover article for this month's National Geographic looks at faith and healing.

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