For those who believe in its power, prayer and meditation is an alternative to traditional medicine. However, in spite of new research that supports the usefulness of prayer included in a patient's healing process, the age-old debate about its effectiveness continues.

Dr. Andrew Newberg, a neurologist at the University of Pennsylvania, has recently studied the biological effects of meditation and prayer on the brain.

"It's not so much the effectiveness of healing and prayer. I wanted to find the link between the clinical realm and prayer and find out what that mechanism is. Someone needs to link the two," Newberg said.

His latest study is of highly experienced Tibetan Buddhist meditators, he said in an e-mail message. Using imaging technology called single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) to measure blood flow, he determined which areas of the brain are most active when you are meditating. Newberg said the more blood flow to an area of the brain, the more active the area is.

Two sets of images were taken: one when the test subject was at rest and the other at the "peak" of meditation. Activity in the parietal lobe was decreased during mediation in the first image. The parietal lobe is the part of the brain responsible for a person's sense of orientation in space and time.

The second image was of the frontal lobe, which is involved in one's attention and concentration. It was very active during the subject's high point of meditation, Newberg said.

These results followed Newberg's hypothesis that all messages sent to the parietal lobe are blocked, which also corresponds to the sensation of no space and no time that people often associate with meditation. Increased activity in the frontal lobe also agreed with his hypothesis because meditation requires a high degree of concentration. As activity increased in the frontal lobe, activity decreased in the parietal lobe.

Not all experts are convinced of the link between mediation and healing.

Richard Sloan, director of behavioral medicine at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, said there is no connection, even after considering Newberg's research. In his paper written in the medical journal The Lancet, Sloan argued that previous investigations failed to account for other variables that could link prayer and healing together. These include factors such as age, sex, lifestyle, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and marital status.

"It has nothing to do with health," Sloan said. "It might make people feel better, but there are no medical benefits. The MRI results are meaningless. Increased brain activity can show up when people are meditating, but it also happens when they talk about the Yankees," he said.

There is increased brain activity during any task, Newberg said, but the results he has found in his study come from tasks where you have sustained attention.

"It's like when you do a math problem," he said. "You have to practice it to get good at it; however, it's usually not important to most people. Meditation and prayer requires practice, too. You need a continuum of experiences to get a robust response."

Rabbi Nosson Meretsky, director of Chabad of Penn State, said he agreed that prayer and meditation could have an effect on your healing process.

"In Judaism, there is a long tradition of prayer and meditation working together. It brings a calming effect. ... If you're sick, you can reach into God's realm through prayer and become healthy," he said.

Although some spiritual groups believe in healing through prayer rather than visiting a doctor, Newberg recommends that prayer not be used as a primary healthcare device.

He added that taking a spiritual history of a patient into account as part of treatment when a person visits a doctor is important.

"It's a difficult situation. You must always be careful. Our [doctors'] expertise isn't religion," he said.

However, he also pointed out that if prayer is important to a patient, there's nothing wrong with them using it.

Sloan said that it is unethical for physicians to consult their patients on spiritual matters and could possibly violate their Hippocratic Oath.

Newberg said that further investigations are key to true understanding.

"Hopefully, as we do more research, we will give healthcare providers better ideas of the ramifications of using prayer and meditations as a treatment," he said.