khaosworks | The God Module

Divine Experience And Neurobiology

Andrew Newberg and Eugene D’Aquili, the authors of Why God Won’t Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief, have conducted interesting studies on brain activity during moments of religious experience. The scientists used a brain-imaging technique called single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) to determine regions of the brain which responded to altered states of consciousness during prayer and deep meditation. The experiments were carried out on Tibetan Buddhists and Franciscan nuns.

According to Newberg, the human brain is genetically wired to encourage religious beliefs and to have spiritual and mystical experiences. During deep meditation, there is an increased activity in the frontal lobe area of the brain — it lights up at the peak of meditation. This was seen in an image of the brain taken during a transcendent experience.

The idea that there is a region of the human brain devoted to spirituality is not new. A few years ago, neuroscientists at UCSD identified such a "God Spot". The question is, I suppose, did God create our brains or did our brains create God? Is evolution predisposed to the idea of spiritual realms as an advantage or is the development of such a center pure chance? Or more sinisterly, did Something design us to be susceptible to the idea of a supreme being or beings, so as to be better prepared to be rendered docile by brainwashing transmissions during the final days when They return for the final harvest of Their human crop?