Association between scripture memorization and brain atrophy using magnetic resonance imaging.

ABSTRACT

We investigated the association between scripture memorization and brain tissue using magnetic resonance imaging techniques. Participants comprised 63 healthy adults between the ages of 35 and 80 years old with no neurological or psychological disorders. Of these, 19 had completely memorized the Quran, 28 had partially memorized parts of Quran while 16, the control group, had not committed the Quran into their memory. White matter, grey matter and cerebrospinal fluid volumes were calculated. The brain tissue volumes of those who memorized the entire Quran and those who memorized only a small portion were compared with the control group using one­way ANOVA implemented in SPSS. There was no significant effect of age between the three groups (p>0.50). The group who completely memorized the Quran had larger grey matter and white matter volumes than the control group. Our results showed that those who memorized scripture had more brain tissues preserved compared with those who had not memorized scripture. These findings suggest that engaging our brains by memorizing scripture may increase brain health.