Study uncovers links between brain regions and spirituality
New research from Italy has shed light on how changes in the brain can alter spiritual and religious attitudes. The scientists hope that their study, published in the journal Neuron, will ultimately lead to new treatments for certain personality disorders. For a long time, the neural basis for spirituality seemed to defy investigation. However, recent advances in imaging and neuroscience have offered researchers a glimpse of the spiritual side of the brain. For example, studies of religious people such as Catholic nuns and Buddhist monks who are experts in different types of meditation revealed changes in a number of brain areas. 'Neuroimaging studies have linked activity within a large network in the brain that connects the frontal, parietal and temporal cortexes with spiritual experiences, but information on the causative link between such a network and spirituality is lacking,' explained the lead author of the paper, Dr Cosimo Urgesi of the University of Udine in Italy. Dr Urgesi and his colleagues took a different approach to dealing with the problem. They studied personality changes in 88 people who underwent brain surgery to remove a brain tumour. The patients had been suffering from several kinds of tumour, located in different regions of the brain. The team tested the spiritual personalities of the patients both before and after surgery. The focus of their investigations was a trait called 'self transcendence' (ST). ST reflects people's spiritual feeling, thinking and behaviours. Those with high ST scores typically have a decreased sense of self and are more likely to identify themselves as an integral part of the universe as a whole. In addition to gauging patients' ST levels, the researchers used advanced techniques to map the location of the brain lesions after surgery. 'This approach allowed us to explore the possible changes of ST induced by specific brain lesions and the causative role played by frontal, temporal and parietal structures in supporting interindividual differences in ST,' said Dr Franco Fabbro of the University of Udine. The scientists found that patients whose surgery affected the posterior part of the brain saw their ST levels rise after the operation. The same was not true of patients whose surgery affected the anterior part of the brain. The fact that brain tumours in different locations had different effects on ST indicates that the change in spirituality cannot be attributed to wider changes in patients' worldview triggered by the experience of having a brain tumour. 'Our study significantly expands current knowledge by revealing the neural basis of the cognitive and emotional styles that characterise the spirituality of each individual,' the researchers write. 'Our symptom-lesion mapping study is the first demonstration of a causative link between brain functioning and ST,' commented Dr Urgesi. 'Damage to posterior parietal areas induced unusually fast changes of a stable personality dimension related to transcendental self-referential awareness. Thus, dysfunctional parietal neural activity may underpin altered spiritual and religious attitudes and behaviours.' The researchers note that ST levels appear to be determined at least in part by our genes, and that these levels are altered in patients with schizophrenia and other mental disorders. 'Exploring the effects of brain lesions on complex personality dimensions, like ST, may cast light on the interaction of genetic and environmental factors in shaping our spirituality profiles and may help to understand the role of interindividual differences in mental disorders,' they suggest. Ultimately, the findings may eventually result in new treatments for some forms of mental illness. 'If a stable personality trait like ST can undergo fast changes as a consequence of brain lesions, it would indicate that at least some personality dimensions may be modified by influencing neural activity in specific areas,' said Dr Salvatore Aglioti of Sapienza University of Rome in Italy. 'Perhaps novel approaches aimed at modulating neural activity might ultimately pave the way to new treatments of personality disorders.'
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