Spirituality Linked to Brain Damage

And we all know drugs do wonders for the brain … Hallucinating Jewish Hippies Write Bible Verses

From the quoted text in the article: The right parietal lobe is generally associated with awareness of the self relative to other objects in space, awareness of the self as perceived by others in social situations, and the ability to critically evaluate one’s own strengths and weaknesses

Interesting. I know that increased activity in the right hemisphere is linked with depression and anxiety. The main psychological features of depression and anxiety—especially social anxiety—is persistent negative or overly critical evaluations of oneself and the way one is regarded by others.

So, while occasionally leading to some unusual somatic sensations (feeling like you’re floating, etc.), decreased activity in the right parietal area may also mean the person doesn’t evaluate themselves quite so negatively, and ends up happier.

I’d go farther, and suggest that this conclusion is supported by the studies done at the University of Wisconsin, where meditators were found to have more activity in the left frontal lobe and decreased activity in the right.

That part of the brain functions as a regulatory or “inhibitory” system… effectively it tells the brain when to calm down.

So, when you’re meditating, it’s not uncommon to have feelings of floating or weightlessness—which would be accounted for by the decreased right parietal activity—but a trained meditator knows that this is not the goal of his practice. The goal is a calmer, more balanced and responsive mind.

New study shows Atheism linked to Soul Sickness…

As more of one’s brain dies, the glimspses they get of Heaven…