Post by jeffolie on Jul 15, 2008 17:58:18 GMT -6
God on the Brain
... saw what they did has opened up a whole field of brain science: neurotheology. ...experimental subjects report that an artificial magnetic field focused on those brain areas gives them a feeling of 'not being alone'. Some of them describe it as a religious sensation. ...work raises the prospect that faith is a mental ability humans have developed or been given. Newberg could use a brain scanner to image the brain at a religious climax. The bloodflow patterns showed that the temporal lobes were certainly involved but also that the brain's parietal lobes appeared almost completely to shut down. The parietal lobes give us our sense of time and place. Without them, we may lose our sense of self. Adherants to many of the world's faiths regard a sense of personal insignificance and oneness with a deity as something to strive for. Newberg's work suggests a neurological basis for what religion tries to generate. Prof Dawkins (who subscribes to evolution to explain human development) thinks there could be an evolutionary advantage, not to believing in god, but to having a brain with the capacity to believe in god. That such faith exists is a by-product of enhanced intelligence.
www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2003/godonbrain.shtml
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The God Spot
by D. Trull
Enigma Editor
dtrull@parascope.com
Scientists, philosophers and atheists have long argued that God and spirituality are constructs of the human mind, although that opinion generally hasn't been a popular one. After centuries of bloody holy wars and fierce theological dispute, the controversy of the Creator's existence has taken a strange new turn: humanity may finally have uncovered tangible evidence that the phenomenon of religious faith is all in our heads.
Literally.
A group of neuroscientists at the University of California at San Diego has identified a region of the human brain that appears to be linked to thoughts of spiritual matters and prayer. Findings seem to point to a region of the brain commonly referred to as the 'God Spot' or 'God Module', that when stimulated creates hallucinations that are interpreted as mystical or spiritual experiences. This 'spot' is stimulated during meditation and prayer and is affected by electromagnetic fields and epilepsy. The resulting hallucinations may be the cause of mystical, spiritual and paranormal experiences as they can give feelings such as a presence in the room or an out of body experience. In the case of epileptics, this may be the reason for many of them becoming obsessed with religion. For those who experience the stimulation it is explained related to their own personal beliefs; a visit from an angel or lost loved one, an extraterrestrial encounter, a higher plane of consciousness or a visit from God.
www.atheistempire.com/reference/brain/main.html
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The human brain does not contain a single "God spot" responsible for mystical and religious experiences, a new study finds. The study found that mystical experiences activate more than a dozen different areas of the brain at once. One of the regions, called the caudate nucleus, has been implicated in positive emotions such as happiness, romantic love and maternal love.
The researchers speculate that activation of this brain region during mystical experiences is related to the feelings of joy and unconditional love the nuns described.
Instead, the sense of union with God or something greater than the self often described by those who have undergone such experiences involves the recruitment and activation of a variety brain regions normally implicated in different functions such as self-consciousness, emotion and body representation.
The finding, detailed in the current issue of Neuroscience Letters, contradicts previous suggestions by other researchers that the there might be a specific region in the brain designed for communication with God.
www.livescience.com/health/060829_god_spot.html
--------------------------------
"The main goal of the study was to identify the neural correlates of a mystical experience," said Dr. Beauregard. The study demonstrated that a dozen different regions of the brain are activated during a mystical experience. In other words, mystical experiences are mediated by several brain regions and systems normally implicated in functions such as self-consciousness, emotion and body representation.
Bottom line: We have a "God Net" not a "God Spot."
brainwaves.corante.com/archives/2006/09/12/god_net_not_god_spot_says_latest_neurotheological_experiment.php
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Just as those who are born deaf, those born without the mental ability to perceive God are unable to know God. The ability to know God is in your brain. Knowing God is a physical evolution.
Perhaps Jews are the chosen people because they have physically evolve brains. The 10 commandments are God's laws for good and evil.
People who can not perceive Godliness reek in their lacking and in their immorality. For those reeking in their lacking, they are as if it is midnight in the garden of good and evil.
... saw what they did has opened up a whole field of brain science: neurotheology. ...experimental subjects report that an artificial magnetic field focused on those brain areas gives them a feeling of 'not being alone'. Some of them describe it as a religious sensation. ...work raises the prospect that faith is a mental ability humans have developed or been given. Newberg could use a brain scanner to image the brain at a religious climax. The bloodflow patterns showed that the temporal lobes were certainly involved but also that the brain's parietal lobes appeared almost completely to shut down. The parietal lobes give us our sense of time and place. Without them, we may lose our sense of self. Adherants to many of the world's faiths regard a sense of personal insignificance and oneness with a deity as something to strive for. Newberg's work suggests a neurological basis for what religion tries to generate. Prof Dawkins (who subscribes to evolution to explain human development) thinks there could be an evolutionary advantage, not to believing in god, but to having a brain with the capacity to believe in god. That such faith exists is a by-product of enhanced intelligence.
www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2003/godonbrain.shtml
-------------------------------------------------
The God Spot
by D. Trull
Enigma Editor
dtrull@parascope.com
Scientists, philosophers and atheists have long argued that God and spirituality are constructs of the human mind, although that opinion generally hasn't been a popular one. After centuries of bloody holy wars and fierce theological dispute, the controversy of the Creator's existence has taken a strange new turn: humanity may finally have uncovered tangible evidence that the phenomenon of religious faith is all in our heads.
Literally.
A group of neuroscientists at the University of California at San Diego has identified a region of the human brain that appears to be linked to thoughts of spiritual matters and prayer. Findings seem to point to a region of the brain commonly referred to as the 'God Spot' or 'God Module', that when stimulated creates hallucinations that are interpreted as mystical or spiritual experiences. This 'spot' is stimulated during meditation and prayer and is affected by electromagnetic fields and epilepsy. The resulting hallucinations may be the cause of mystical, spiritual and paranormal experiences as they can give feelings such as a presence in the room or an out of body experience. In the case of epileptics, this may be the reason for many of them becoming obsessed with religion. For those who experience the stimulation it is explained related to their own personal beliefs; a visit from an angel or lost loved one, an extraterrestrial encounter, a higher plane of consciousness or a visit from God.
www.atheistempire.com/reference/brain/main.html
----------------------------------
The human brain does not contain a single "God spot" responsible for mystical and religious experiences, a new study finds. The study found that mystical experiences activate more than a dozen different areas of the brain at once. One of the regions, called the caudate nucleus, has been implicated in positive emotions such as happiness, romantic love and maternal love.
The researchers speculate that activation of this brain region during mystical experiences is related to the feelings of joy and unconditional love the nuns described.
Instead, the sense of union with God or something greater than the self often described by those who have undergone such experiences involves the recruitment and activation of a variety brain regions normally implicated in different functions such as self-consciousness, emotion and body representation.
The finding, detailed in the current issue of Neuroscience Letters, contradicts previous suggestions by other researchers that the there might be a specific region in the brain designed for communication with God.
www.livescience.com/health/060829_god_spot.html
--------------------------------
"The main goal of the study was to identify the neural correlates of a mystical experience," said Dr. Beauregard. The study demonstrated that a dozen different regions of the brain are activated during a mystical experience. In other words, mystical experiences are mediated by several brain regions and systems normally implicated in functions such as self-consciousness, emotion and body representation.
Bottom line: We have a "God Net" not a "God Spot."
brainwaves.corante.com/archives/2006/09/12/god_net_not_god_spot_says_latest_neurotheological_experiment.php
----------------------------
Just as those who are born deaf, those born without the mental ability to perceive God are unable to know God. The ability to know God is in your brain. Knowing God is a physical evolution.
Perhaps Jews are the chosen people because they have physically evolve brains. The 10 commandments are God's laws for good and evil.
People who can not perceive Godliness reek in their lacking and in their immorality. For those reeking in their lacking, they are as if it is midnight in the garden of good and evil.