I suspect that this was originally intended as a bit of fun, not to be taken seriously. Alas, it's being reported as if it were serious and I feel like someone must point out the obvious, grievous flaws:<p>According to the article, the finding is based on an MRI of exactly one subject, Alex Brooks. Brooks seems to be exceptionally ardent and there's nothing to suggest he is at all representative of anyone but himself. It is never really safe to draw broad conclusions from studying one subject. But it is ridiculous to do so with someone you've specifically selected because they are exceptional.<p>Yet even if Brooks were representative, there's nothing within the article to suggest that the brain activity detected has anything specifically to do with religious thoughts or feelings. Yes, those areas light up when religious images are shown to religious people. But there are obvious alternate explanations that aren't addressed. Perhaps those areas of the brain light up when shown familiar visual stimuli. An Apple fan strongly recognizes an iMac. A Jesus fan strongly recognizes the crucifix. Or perhaps this brain activity is just caused by seeing something you like. You could control against these confounding factors, but they evidently have not.<p>Basically, unless the article has glossed over a lot, there is no finding here at all and this is the BBC pretending at science.