British scientists are to test the power of religious faith by seeing whether devout believers are better able to tolerate pain than their more sceptical peers, researchers announced.
Scientists at Oxford University will use sophisticated brain imaging technology to study how those looking at a crucifix or pictures of the Virgin Mary, among others, cope with physical discomfort.
The Oxford Centre for Science of the Mind (OXCSOM) also hopes to recruit believers in New Age healing crystals and faith healers, as well as atheists, to discover why some people are better at coping with pain than others.
Volunteers will be either have a gel made from chilli peppers applied to their skin, or have a small box which heats up to temperatures of 60 degrees Centigrade (140 Fahrenheit) placed on the back of their hands.
The scientists will then study their brain as they are showed a religious image, or perform other distractions such as saying a list of numbers backwards.
The work was part of a far wider project being conducted by academics from six university departments -- anatomy, pharmacology, philosophy, physiology, theology and practical ethics -- said OXCSOM deputy director Dr. Toby Collins.
"Although it seems a bit crass, we have got to design experiments which allow us to tap into people's different beliefs," he said.
"I wouldn't like to say that religious belief is just a distraction from daily life so we have got to be careful not to trivialise it.
"This is why we have also got theologians and philosophers as part of the team."
Researchers would also be looking at how people coped with disasters such as the December 26 Asian tsunami, Collins added.
"What we hope to do is investigate the basis of belief systems which give people the inner ability to cope with situations in which they couldn't normally cope," he said.
"We see tsunami survivors who have been able to get through, whereas other people in the same circumstances have not been able to cope, and perhaps that's to do with what gives them the strength inside to do so.
"There's a huge potential ability in people to overcome conditions which otherwise might have done them in."