Did the brain create God, or God create the brain?

Assess the claim that there is a neurophysiological basis for religious beliefs. Introduction

Every country, every race, every people around the world have their religions, just like they have their own cultures and traditions. Although every religion evolves around different deities, different values and different practices, they all meet the same need—the need of the human race to have a meaning in life and to seek a refuge in a higher being. The fact that various groups of human beings with distinctly different lifestyles and cultures actually have this consistency of having a religion brings to attention that religion may in fact be an inherent need of human beings. Why would religion be an inherent need? Many scientists, psychologists and philosophers have proposed that this need may be related to how the human brain has been wired, and wired to need something called ‘God’.

Neurotheology is a new study that has emerged from the attempt to link religion to the brain. It is the study that unites two seemingly unrelated entities--religion and the brain--in the hopes of being able to better understand both entities. By investigating the link between the brain and religion, controversies have arisen as to whether religious experiences and God could be reduced to nothing more than the result of brain functions. This theory is termed as reductionism.

In the process of studying the brain, researchers have used high-tech brain imaging techniques to observe the neurological changes in the brain in response to different stimuli. One such technique is the single photon emission computed topography (SPECT) that visualizes brain activity by using radioactive tracers and a scanner to produce a picture of the brain. Other methods include the positron emission topography (PET) scans and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Each of these techniques has its own advantages and limitations, such as poor spatial and temporal resolutions, as well as high noise levels.^[1],^[33] -^[36] Nonetheless, these brain studies have produced some consistent results as to which brain areas are stimulated and which tend to have a dramatic drop in activity during peaks of spiritual experiences. However, there is still insufficient evidence to say that there is a neurophysiological basis for religious beliefs. Any information obtained thus far merely identifies which parts of the brain are involved in spiritual experiences, but do not serve to prove that these spiritual experiences as

merely a result of certain mis-firings of the brain. Furthermore, all the scientific evidence collected thus far only points to the link between the human brain and spiritual experiences, which does not equate to a link to religious beliefs.^[2] Henceforth, the claim that there is a neurological basis for religious beliefs has no concrete evidences to support it and thus does not stand.

Definitions

The term basis refers to a fundamental principle or groundwork from which something else is built upon. Other synonyms for “basis” include “source”, “origin”, “beginning” and “foundation”. As such, the claim of a neurophysiological basis of religious beliefs is not just a declaration of a relationship between the brain and religious beliefs, but also arguing that religious beliefs originate from the brain.

Religious belief is a faith or creed concerning the supernatural, sacred, or divine. It may concern the existence and worship of one or more deities. In addition to that, religious belief may also relate to the values and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader.^[3]

Religious experience (also known as spiritual experience) is an occasion when the person in question comes into contact with transcendental reality.^[4] Religious experiences are very personal encounters that may be very out of the ordinary, and thus may be received with skepticism by others. To make things worse, these experiences may be similar to those arising from psychopathological states such as psychoses and altered awareness.^[5],^[6]

Brain functions and their proposed relation to religion

One important brain region that is involved in neurotheology is the Orientation Association Area (OAA). The primary job of the OAA is to orient the individual in physical space, and to draw a sharp distinction between the individual and everything else (the rest of the universe), giving us a sense of ‘self’. Thus, during the normal state of mind, the OAA is a place of furious brain activity. A drop in activity levels in the OAA can occur during meditation or injury. This drop in activity may be due to a block in the flow of sensory information from the hippocampus to the

OAA, causing it to be unable to perform its duty properly.^[7],^[8] When the OAA activity drops sharply, not only is there a loss of sense of self, but there is also no preferred position or direction in space, thus the local self dissolves into an omnidirectional expansion. This is often described by meditators as a “feeling of oneness with the universe”.^[9]

Another important brain region is the Attention Association Area (AAA), also known as the pre- frontal cortex. This region is responsible for giving the individual the ability to concentrate, plan future behavior and to carry out complex tasks that require mental focus or sustained attention. During meditation, this region is highly stimulated due to the high amount of concentration needed. Damage to this region of the brain results in the loss of ability to complete long sentences, plan a schedule, lack of will and a profound indifference to events in the environment. Victims’ ability to imagine the happening of certain events is also hampered upon damage to the prefrontal cortex.^[8]

It should also be mentioned that the frontal lobes and temporal lobes have also been found to be intimately connected to the limbic system that controls most of our emotions. The frontal lobes are believed to be extremely important in initiating, controlling and monitoring emotions. These areas have increased activity during the peaks of spiritual experiences, giving rise to the emotional aspects during spiritual experiences. Extensive damage to the frontal lobes usually leads to uncontrolled emotions, apathy and loss of social interests.^[10],^[11]

The Broca’s area, situated in the left frontal lobe of the brain, may be responsible for the hearing of the voice of God. Normally, we can tell if it is our inner voice that is speaking. However, when sensory information is restricted during meditation or prayer, the Broca’s area may be switched on and internally generated thoughts may be misattributed to an external source.^[2],^[9]

An important pair of sub-systems is the sympathetic system and the parasympathetic system, otherwise known as the Arousal system and the Quiescent system. These two systems are generally antagonistic to each other, but may function in a complementary manner under certain conditions. When one of these systems receives continued excessive stimulation, a “spillover” phenomenon occurs where the excessive stimulation produces activation responses in the opposite system (instead of the usual inhibitory effect). Under very rare conditions, maximal

simultaneous activation of both Arousal and Quiescent systems can occur. This simultaneous activation of the two systems explains why meditation and rituals can give rise to the emotions that are often experienced. During meditation, the Quiescent system is stimulated. When the meditation reaches a peak, there is a spillover effect to the Arousal system, resulting in a spiritual “high”, described by expert meditators as a “rush” or a release of energy during a hyperquiescent state. On the other hand, rhythmic rituals stimulate the Arousal system, with spillover effects to the Quiescent system, resulting in a sudden feeling of bliss, peace and oneness with the rest of the world.^[2], ^[12]

As described above, scientific evidences have been used to explain how and why various feelings and visions are experienced during mediation and prayer. Does this then mean that neurophysiology is the absolute explanation behind spiritual experiences and, more importantly, religious beliefs? Not necessarily so.

Brain activity during religious experiences does not negate the existence of God

The most popular argument for the neurophysiological basis of religious beliefs is that of the detection of specific brain regions that are involved in religious experiences. However, although there has been extensive experiments conducted to figure out the link between brain activity and spiritual experiences, the classification of activity in the brain during stages of enhanced spiritual experience does not equate to the brain being the source of the experience.

The most famous of all brain experiments for this purpose is that done by Andrew Newberg and Eugene D'Aquili in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In their research study, Tibetan monks and Franciscan nuns well-trained in meditation were recruited. As the monks and nuns meditate, Newberg and D'Aquili sit in an adjoining room, observing their brain activity. When the observed individual approaches a transcendent peak of spiritual intensity, he or she tugs a twine that informs the researchers of the moment. Newberg and D'Aquili then take note of the brain activity of the meditator during that moment, and compare that to the previous readouts of the brain during normal states. What was mainly observed was the quieting of the OAA, which results in the feeling of proximity and oneness with God.

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