Re: A "God" Part of the Brain?

From: EckertWAIII@aol.com
Date: Fri Aug 15 2003 - 05:46:31 EDT

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    >I don't know what people mean by religious experience when they talk about >
    something confined to a particular locus in the brain.

    I think it is not accurate to say that a relgious experience is "confined to
    a particular locus in the brain". Certainly, as with all forms of conciousness
    seems to be, multiple areas of the brain are involved. Instead, there are
    areas of the brain that show changes in activity (either increase OR decreased
    levels) when one subjectively feels that he or she is in one of the higher
    levels of awareness or unity with God, similar to how you've described. The fact
    that changes in brain activity in a particular locus does occur during such
    experience does not mean that the experience is confined to this particular locus.
    What can be concluded is that this area is involved in part in the totality
    of the experience.

    -Bill 

    --
William A. Eckert III, Ph.D.
Senior Research Scientist
Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Durham, NC

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