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1. The “God Module” and the Role of Spirituality in Recovery Cardwell C. Nuckols, MA, PhD
cnuckols@elitecorp.org
2. The “God Module”
The “God Module” refers to an area of the brain that is ‘hard wired” for spiritual experiences. It does not prove the existence of God.
3. GOD IS DEAD--NietzcheNIETZCHE IS DEAD--God
5. John Lennon “Christianity will go. It
will vanish and shrink.
I needn’t argue about
that. I’m right and will
be proven right.
We’re more popular
than Jesus Christ right
now!”
6. Jay North
“This God-is-Dead
premise seems to
me merely a fad;
religion will live
through it.”
7. “One must say truly, I think, that personal religious experience has its roots and center in mythical states of consciousness.”William James
8. “Spirituality is one of our basic human inheritances. It is, in fact, an instinct. (Dean Hamer,2004)
9. Consciousness is personal. It is yours and yours alone. You can describe it to others but the sights and feelings themselves are not transferable. William James
10. Overview Spirituality and Healing
Brain and Spirituality
Central Arguments for the God Gene
11. Spirituality and Healing Beliefs of Our Clients
Beliefs of Medical Professionals
Spirituality and Recovery
12. Beliefs Of Our Clients Over 90% of Americans believe in God
57% engage in daily prayer
42% attended church in the last week
80% believed that religious faith can aid in recovery from illness
13. Beliefs Of Our Clients 63% agreed that doctors should talk to them about spiritual issues (McNichol, 1996)
14. Beliefs of Medical Professionals According to Alcohol Medical Scholars Program, Spirituality in Substance abuse/Dependence Treatment, Marianne Guschwan, MD
Most psychiatrists do not believe in God
Nurses and medical students in one survey ranked spirituality as a low consideration of patients treated on a dual-disorder unit
15. Beliefs of Medical Professionals Guschwan continued
However, the patients ranked spirituality and belief in God as most important to their recovery-Interesting incongruence!
16. Spirituality And Recovery 2 major reviews of the literature
National Institute for Healthcare Review (1996)
“Good evidence” that involvement in AA is associated with enhanced outcomes in both inpatient and outpatient care
NIAAA and Fetzer Institute (1999)
“Strong support” for the protective nature of spirituality and religion (110 studies): of AA involvement (51 studies) and spiritual/religious intervention (26 studies)
17. Spirituality and Recovery Spirituality refers to the unique and intense experience of a reality greater than oneself or an experience of connection with the totality of things. Religion is an organized social structure in which spiritual experiences are shared, ritualized and passed on to future generations
18. Spirituality and Recovery An individual does not have to be religious in order to have a spiritual experience. The benefits of spirituality include humility, inner strength, sense of meaning and purpose in life, acceptance of self and others, sense of harmony and serenity, gratitude and forgiveness.
19. Humility, Harmony, & Serenity Humility
Not driven by foolish pride but able to admit our weaknesses and ask for help when needed
Harmony
Not being all alone but being a part of a greater whole
Serenity
Not living a life of self-imposed stress but living in a fair and tranquil fashion
20. A Meaningful, Spiritual Life An Engaged Life
Find people and things that turn you on
A Meaningful Life
Establish a relationship with a Higher Power
An Exercise
Think about someone who gave you good advice and helped you get through a tough time
Write a 300 word testimonial
Read it to the individual
21. Brain and Spirituality Daniel Amen, MD
Is the brain hardwired for spiritual experiences?
Vilayanur Ramachandran, MD
Seizure-like experiences
Temporal Lobe Epilepsy
22. Daniel Amen MD, 2002 ….. “when the brain is healthy we are compassionate, thoughtful, loving, relaxed , and goal directed, and when the brain is sick or damaged we are unfeeling, impulsive, angry, tense, and unfocused, and it is very hard for our souls and our relationship with God to be at peace.”
23. Is the Brain Hard-Wired For Spiritual Experiences? “God Module” (Dr. Vilayanur Ramachandran, 1997)
Innate instinct to believe in God or Higher Power.
Circuit of nerves in the temporal lobe became active when patients with history of temporal lobe epilepsy and profound spiritual experiences thought about God
24. Is the Brain Hard-Wired For Spiritual Experiences? When testing deeply religious persons without a history of temporal lobe epilepsy, the same area of the brain became activated.
25. Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Persons with a history of temporal lobe epilepsy often report spiritual experiences
Dostoevsky
Muhammad
Apostle Paul
Joan of Arc
26. Muhammad Seizure-like experiences
Flashing lights
Heard voices of the angels Gabriel and Allah
Fits of trembling, profuse sweating and bodily pain
Lifelong pattern of out-of–the body experiences
27. Apostle Paul Luke reported Paul had
“bodily weaknesses”
Saw flashes of light, fell
down, saw Christ and was
blind for several days
Paul reported a pattern of “visions and revelations”
28. Joan of Arc “I heard this Voice to my right; rarely do I hear it without its being accompanied by a light.”
29. Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Auditory hallucinations
Visual hallucinations
Loss of balance
Strong emotional content
Occasional blindness
30. Central Arguments Regarding A “God” Gene Sense of Self
Self-transcendence
Consciousness
Sense of self and the world around us
Monoamines and VMAT2
Polymorphism of gene VMAT2
“Spiritual allele”
31. Sense of Self Abraham Maslow
“Self-actualizers”
Roger Cloninger
Self-transcendence scale
Andrew Newberg
SPECT scans
Todd Murphy
Visitor Experience
32. Abraham Maslow Avowed atheist
One of first modern psychologists to tackle the problem of separating spirituality from religion
Self-actualizers shared a common feature of periodic spiritual experiences
33. Roger Cloninger Tried to quantify spirituality
Self-transcendence Scale
Self-Forgetfulness
Transpersonal Identification
Mysticism
34. Self-Forgetfulness Do you ever get so involved in your work that you forget where you are or what time it is?
Do you sometimes feel like you are in the “zone”? ..a “flow” state?
Spiritual people tend to have these experiences more frequently
35. Transpersonal Identification Do you feel a sense of unity with things around you?
Would you risk your life to make the world a better place?
Spiritual people become deeply and emotionally attached
36. Mysticism Are you fascinated with things that cannot be explained by science?
Are you intuitive?
Do you feel connections with people for no apparent reason?
37. Andrew Newberg-SPECT Using a SPECT camera during meditation there is a decrease in activity in parts of the brain involved in generating a 3-D orientation in space (spatial orientation). (Andrew Newberg, University of Pennsylvania)
Meditation is a spiritual state.
Meditation and a spiritual sense involve feelings of release into a place beyond space and time.
38. Andrew Newberg-SPECT Meditation caused…
Increased blood flow to frontal cortex and thalamus
Frontal cortex
Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
Inferior frontal cortex
Orbital frontal cortex
Responsible for thinking and planning
Thalamus and cingulate gyrus
Part of limbic system
Emotion
Aggregate-”neurological seat of the will”
Goal-oriented
Concentration and planning
39. Andrew Newberg-SPECT Meditation caused….
Decreased blood flow
Posterior superior parietal lobes
“Orientation association area”
3-D picture of body
Distinguishes between self and non-self
40. Todd Murphy The 40 Hertz Component
Component of EEG readout
Appears from temporal lobes (also involves amygdala and hippocampus)
2 sides of the brain, 2 sets of structures, 2 sense of self
Left side is usually dominant
Where language happens including inner monologues
Right side
Non-linguistic sense of self
41. Todd Murphy When right side takes over
“Visitor Experience”
Experience determined by what other parts of brain are involved
Visual area
Vision of an entity of some kind
Olfactory area
Experience a unique smell
Language area
Hear voices, music or noise
Experience of God may be an extreme example of the “Visitor Experience”
Views God as a part of self
42. The “Visitor Experience”
43. Consciousness Sense of self and world around us
Gerald Edelman
2 different types of nervous system organization
Michael Persinger
Biological basis of spiritual and mystical experiences is due to firing of the temporoparietal region
We do not know God, we feel him
44. Gerald Edelman 2 different types of nervous system organization
Thalamocortical System (Core or Primary Consciousness)
Thalamus
Cerebral Cortex
Thalamus serves as a relay station from outside to thinking part of brain
45. Gerald Edelman 2 different types of nervous system organization
Limbic-Brain Stem System
Brain stem-Area between the spinal cord and thalamus
Connects body and the brain
Life processes
Limbic system
Amygdala, hypothalamus and hippocampus
Emotional response and memory
46. Gerald Edelman Consciousness arise through the process of communication between these 2 systems
Consciousness links the physical senses to the emotions via brain networks
Emotions (feeling good, bad, happy, sad) are produced by the monoamines and influenced by the VMAT2 gene
47. Michael Persinger Non-believer
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to his temporal and parietal lobes
Experienced God
“The God Spot”
Biological basis of all spiritual and mystical experiences
Spontaneous firing of the temporoparietal region
48. Michael Persinger Main effect of the firing is to increase communication between the right and left temporoparietal areas causing confusion between “the sense of self “ and “the sense of others”
Creates “Sense of a Presence”
Interpreted as God, spirits or other mystical being
49. Monoamines (Norepinephrine, Serotonin and Dopamine) Biochemical mediators of emotions and values
Not freely available
Must be wrapped and protected from degradation
50. Serotonin5HT and NorepinephrineNE in the brain Serotonin and Norepinephrine in Depression1
Serotonin and norepinephrine are believed to be key neurotransmitters in the etiology of depression
From the raphe nuclei and locus ceruleus, 5-HT and NE, respectively, send projections up to the prefrontal cortex and limbic system where emotional depressive symptoms are thought to be mediated.
Additionally, there are also 5-HT and NE-rich tracts into the spinal cord, which are thought to modulate pain perception.
1. Adapted from Stahl SM. J Clin Psych. 2002; 63: 382-383.Serotonin and Norepinephrine in Depression1
Serotonin and norepinephrine are believed to be key neurotransmitters in the etiology of depression
From the raphe nuclei and locus ceruleus, 5-HT and NE, respectively, send projections up to the prefrontal cortex and limbic system where emotional depressive symptoms are thought to be mediated.
Additionally, there are also 5-HT and NE-rich tracts into the spinal cord, which are thought to modulate pain perception.
1. Adapted from Stahl SM. J Clin Psych. 2002; 63: 382-383.
51. Serotonin Increased sociability and intimacy
Increased mood elevation
Effects consciousness in ways connected to self-transcendence and spirituality
Alters perception an aspect of mystical experience
Ecstasy and Prozac
Prozac more subtle and less neurotoxic
52. Dopamine James Olds (1954)
Medial forebrain bundle (MFB)
Pleasure
What makes spirituality attractive most likely involves dopamine
53. Vesicular Monoamine Transporter (VMAT2) Genetic
Houses monoamines
Protects from degradation
54. Importance of VMAT2 Knock-out mice
Without VMAT2 Gene
“Runts”
Died young
100 fold decrease in monoamines
Produced monoamines but did not protect them from degradation
55. Something Happens! Vesicle reaches membrane at terminal button
Tiny channels open letting in Calcium
Monoamines leak out into synapse
Attach to receptor
Receptor diversity
Diverse effects
57. Monoamine Attached To Receptor Activates G Protein
G Protein activates cyclic AMP (Second Messenger)
Signaling molecule
Cyclic AMP carries the information that started with the monoamine
60. Monoamines Determine the overall tone of the brain
How you feel
Emotions are the language of the brain
61. Summary of Central Arguments For The God Gene Self is central
The ability to lose one’s sense of self, to become one with our surroundings
The sense of self and the world we live in revolve around the brain process called consciousness
Higher consciousness involves structures in the back part of the brain related to orientation
62. Summary of Central Arguments For The God Gene Monoamines play critical role in consciousness
Add value to perceptions-feelings