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Temporal Lobe Stimulation resulting in an ASC

He remembered that during his epileptic fits, or rather immediately preceding them, he had always experienced a moment or two when his whole heart, and mind, and body seemed to wake up with vigor and light; when he became filled with joy and hope, and all his anxieties seemed to be swept away for ever; these moments were but presentiments, as it were, of the one final second

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Temporal Lobe Stimulation resulting in an ASC

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    1. Temporal Lobe Stimulation resulting in an ASC Jeff Lynn Ryan Brenes Jeff Delshad

    4. Persinger’s hypotheses Temporal lobe transient (TLT) releases memories that were forgotten Memories are forgotten because temporal lobe shifts its function over time

    5. Brain Stimulation Transcrainial magnetic stimulation Motor cortex = different muscles contract Septum (near front of thalamus) = intense pleasure Visual areas = color, motion, “seeing” If someone blind from birth and visual areas intact Temporal lobes stimulation Reports of experiencing God

    6. The God Helmet Experimental device that simulates temporal lobes creating “spiritual experience” 80% of participants experience another presence beside them Studies are controversial

    7. Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Unlike focal seizures in motor cortex Muscle twitching Temporal lobe Connection to limbic system Emotional symptoms Spiritual experiences Divine presence, significance in everything, insight

    8. “Temporal Lobe Personality” May alter patient’s personality (between seizures) Heightened emotions Cosmic significance in the trivial Humorless Self absorbed, ego-centric, talk about own feelings Hypergraphic – elaborate diaries w/ symbols Decreased libido, but still sexual rituals (flirting)

    9. Possible Neural Mechanism for Temporal Lobe Personality Kindling Frequent massive nerve impulses from temporal lobe to limbic system May permanently strengthen / “facilitate” certain pathways Permanently alters / enriches emotional life How to test this?

    10. Galvanic Skin Response Test Two patients shown words & images of Ordinary inanimate objects Familiar faces (parents, etc) Unfamiliar faces Sexually explicit content (e.g. magazine pinups) Extreme violence and horror (e.g. alligator eating person alive) Religious content (“God”, etc)

    11. Galvanic Skin Response Test Hypothesis Kindling strengthens connections from temporal lobe to limbic system Expect high response to all categories Unlike what would be expected in normal High response to violence, sex, familiar faces Low to no response to everything else

    12. Results Heightened response to religious words and images Response to other categories, including sex and violence, decreased Compared to what is seen in normal people Thus, no general enhancement Selective amplification to religious content Decrease in everything else

    13. Implications There exists neural circuits involved in religious experience Become hyperactive in some left temporal epileptics Did circuits evolve specifically for religion? ...Or do they generate emotions contributing to such beliefs? Much more research needed...

    14. Temporal lobe epilepsy as an ASC Can cause temporary and long-term changes in personality Patients say they sometimes reach a state of Nirvana Feelings after seizures are often compared to use of LSD

    15. Controversy Belief in a God gene (Hamer) Genes to help cultivate unity within a population Culture plays the more dominant role Some think these personality traits are not more frequent in epileptic patients Beliefs about God’s existence

    16. References Persinger, Michael A. Ph.d. "Neuropsychological Bases of God Beliefs" Praeger, 1987 Persinger, Michael “Perceptual and Motor Skills”, 1983, 57, 1255-1262. Ramachandran, V.S., Blakeslee, Sandra “Phantoms in the Brain”, 1998, 174-188. Ramachandran, V.S., “God and the Temporal Lobes” Epilepsy.com: Temporal Lobe Epilepsy http://www.shaktitechnology.com/ Time: “Is God in Our Genes?”, Jeffery Kluger, Oct. 2004 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_gene

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