Thaindian News

London, May 22 (IANS) Fans of Apple products tend to be hysterically devoted to the global brand. But this desire for iPods and iPads can border on the religious, according to a TV programme.

An MRI scan of an Apple fanatic’s brain has found that the same part lit up as a believer’s did when he gazed upon religious imagery.

Journalist Alex Riley carried out the test for the BBC documentary “Secrets Of The Superbrands”, during which he also attended the opening of Apple’s Covent Garden store here, the Daily Mail reports.

He likened the scene to “an evangelical prayer meeting”, with hundreds of hysterical yet delirious customers flooding the store, many of whom had slept outside overnight or travelled from other countries despite their being no free products or discounts on offer.

To understand their fervour, he commissioned a team of neuroscientists with an MRI scanner to look inside the brain of one such fan.

“The results suggested that Apple was actually stimulating the same parts of the brain as religious imagery does in people of faith,” he said. During the programme, Riley also spoke to the Bishop of Buckingham, who reinforced his claims.

The bishop explained that Apple stores contain a lot of religious imagery, such as stone floors, altar-like product stands and arched windows.