When you receive the Seal you will be rewarded as a believer in God. A new study shows just what happens in your brain when you believe things--and also when you do not believe them or are uncertain.

Everyone has many beliefs about the world. Those who doubt religion or are uncertain about God still have many beliefs about certain kinds of scientific knowledge and certain theories about the way things are.

Researchers have recently used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to map the different parts of the brain that process belief, disbelief, and also uncertainty.

Belief, disbelief, and uncertainty are considered cognitive states, and this study shows that neuroimaging can now begin to reveal the distinctions between them.

In this study, 14 subjects were scanned with an MRI and given written information on a wide variety of topics, including statements about themselves and facts about God.

When their responses were measured, all the activity took part in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex of the brain, which is part of the prefrontal cortex, the anterior part of the frontal cortex.

The prefrontal cortex has been thought to process risk and fear. And the results of this study suggest the connection in the body between what is cognitive about belief and what is emotional and rewarding about belief.

Ethical belief showed a similar activity in the brain to mathematical belief, despite the fact that subjects had different emotional reactions to ethical statements and mathematical statements.

Disbelief showed up in the cingulate areas of the limbic system, and the anterior insula which is known to process pain and disgust and negative reactions to scents and flavors.

So disbelief is physiologically associated with disgust and rejection. What you do not believe might disgust you. And your brain itself will reject it, causing you to feel the disgust emotionally.

Uncertainty showed up in the anterior cingulate of the cingulate cortex. Studies have shown this area involved in decision-making processes like the finding of errors and the managing of conflicts.

Relative to belief and disbelief, uncertainty also had less action in the caudate of the basal ganglia, which is involved in motor control. When you are uncertain you are not ready to take action.

When you are sealed, the Seal is placed right upon your forehead. It is on the left side of your forehead. So the Seal is related to your thoughts in the left side of your brain--in the light of consciousness.

God places the Seal upon your forehead because He wants to be involved in your thoughts. When you are sealed you begin to include God in your thoughts and thus also in your feelings.

When you are sealed you think of God often. And that is what God wants, because He has chosen you. He also thinks of you and so you often share thoughts with Him, talking with Him when you receive the Seal.