On the Neurological basis of Spirituality
Sun May 11, 2008 at 09:00:37 AM PDT
I spent the early half of Saturday, May 10th at an annual conference sponsored by The Humanists of Florida Association. This event was co-sponsored by the Sarasota Congregation for Humanistic Judaism; The Gulf Coast Humanist Association and The Humanists of Sarasota Bay.
My chief focus of interest that morning was a presentation on "The Neurological Basis of Spirituality" delivered by Alan Grindal, M.D. Dr. Grindal, who was previously a Professor of Neurology, is now retired and with retirement freed time has been enhancing his knowledge of the neurobiology of human spirituality.
You are invited to stimulate some of your brain synapses, pro or con as you read below the fold...
Dr. Grindal explained that studies of genetics, neurochemistry and epilepsy as well as brain monitoring via functional magnetic resonance imaging [fMRI] and positron emission tomography [PET Scanning] have lead to a better understanding of our species perceived spiritual experience.
I [kleinem], as an admittedly total layperson in the field of neurobiology, have on several past occaissions, in comments made in S.P., revealed my current inclination toward a perceived, from my readings, plausability of brain hard wiring and possible alteration thereof, as a basis for an easy acceptance of religious beliefs.
Dr. Grindal indicated that there is ,"some evidence that spirituality has a genetic function". He mentioned in passing, on that point, Dean Hammers’s book, "The God Gene. He also touched on a study done in the 1990s that dealt with the proclaimed religiosity of cohorts of identical vs. fraternal twins. All study subjects had been separated at or shortly after birth and were raised in different households.This study expressed the finding that some 43% of religiosity, in this study group,was of an inherited nature.
Dr. Grindal is of the opinion that the brain and the mind are one and as such that they have been shown to be influenced, in regard to religion/spirituality event perceptions by chemical ingestions
[eg.,psilocybin, peyote and LSD] and also by brain injuries, physiologic body events [ eg.: "out of body experiences" being triggered by hypoxia at a parietal-temperal lobes junction], and various manifestations of disease states such as dementias and differing forms of epilepsy.
More specifically he alluded to advancing Alzheimers causing many sufferers to lose their spirituality and Fronto Temperal Dementia [ FTD ]patients, whose dementia results from disease process at the connection between the limbic system and frontal lobe. A high percentage of FTD patients develope hyper-religiosity.
He went on to point out, in regard to epilepsy, that some historians have claimed that St. Paul, Joan of Arc and Mohammad had suffered from epilepsy. Mohammad supposedly as being noted to have had "fits" as a child. [ No reference was cited .]
The doctor also alluded to "Geschwinds Syndrome" which involves right temperal lobe seizures and an associated hyper-religiosity.
Finally, to the best of my recollection of the many details in Dr. Grindal’s lecture, he mentioned a 2003 study by a researcher named Persinger who explored trans-cranial magnetic stimulation of temperal lobes and was able to elicit religious experiences in his subjects. Persinger refered to " a feeling of a presence" in some subjects as a result of the stimulation.
