Is There a 'God Spot' in the Human Brain?

Canadian scientists wanted to find out if the human brain has something
that, for lack of a better term, they called a "God spot"--something
that would explain how why human beings almost universally have a
connection with a heavenly deity. The answer? There isn't just one.
There are at least a dozen.
The BBC News reports that researchers from the University of Montreal
found that Christian mystical experiences are mediated by several brain
regions. There has been much debate in scientific and religious circles
as to whether there was a specific brain region that was designed just
for communication with God. To find out, the team asked 15 Roman
Catholic nuns ages 23 to 64 years old to describe in detail the mystical
experience of Unio Mystica they each had in their 20s. While each nun
spoke, her brain activity was monitored with an MRI scan.
The results? "The main goal of the study was to identify the neural
correlates of a mystical experience," lead researcher Dr. Mario
Beauregard told the BBC. "Rather than there being one spot that relates
to mystical experiences, we've found a number of brain regions are
involved. This does not diminish the meaning and value of such an
experience and neither does it confirm or disconfirm the existence of
God." The researchers found at least 12 regions of the brain that showed
increased activity, including those areas that are typically involved
with self-consciousness and emotion.
"These brain studies can give us fascinating insights into how the human
body and mind and spirit inter-connect, but they should not make us
think that prayer and religious experience are just an activity in the
brain," the Rev. Stephen Wang, a Catholic priest teaching at Allen Hall
Seminary in London, told the BBC. "True Christian mysticism is an
encounter with the living God. We meet him in the depths of our souls.
It is an experience that goes far beyond the normal boundaries of human
psychology and consciousness." The study findings were reported in the
journal Neuroscience Letters.

it would only make sense because religion is a completely emotional
ordeal. did they say whether the subject was a religious person? most
people brains, whether they realize it or not; have a reaction to a
stimulus like religion. i think a more interesting study would be to see
if there was any difference in reaction between a religious person and a
none religious person.

HMMM that would be kind of interesting...like test an athiest and see
how his brain would react.

their brain would definitely react but i would like to see if they can
determine the difference between the reactions of the different
subjects.

yeah but what about mind over matter like is our brain capable of making
our bodies more than what they are normally capable of.....do you think
they would be the same sectors of the brain .example the pregnant woman
lifting a car off her kid kinda thing

they have done a study on that, unfortunately i don't remember the out
come but i can only imagine that the region that handled emotion would
be off the charts. there was a seperate region involved too but i don't
remember which one. the data i'm sure is not correct because even if you
could recreate a situation where they truly feared for their childs
life, i wonder if the part where they actually lift the object would
make a difference in the results.

mystery solved..the "God spot" is not in the brain and only women have
it...it's what used to be called the "G-spot"..makes sense cuz everytime
my Lady and I make love she's always saying,"Oh God, oh God"

lmao!!!!!!!!

OMG animal... that was tff... lmfao

bonus points for animal woohhooooo

does your gf like it when you call her your little sinner and you punish
her by making her pray to GOD lol

just some useless information tho lol

Men, according to Sex with Sue, do have a G-Spot. It is supposedly
located inside the rectum. I can even give you her directions on finding
it if you really want the info lol...

So I guess God cums to both sexes... lmao

What, to me seems to not agree with this study is the fact that they
asked the nuns to recall the spiritual event then scanned their brains.
That's not having a religious experience. I would think they would have
to do the scanning while have some religious experience and not just
recalling it. I can see have some emotional feeling while recalling the
experience but I would think recalling it and actually having it are two
different things, IMHO.

what do you think?

why, ty for the bonus pts Lori lol :-) and King..she knows when she's
been nuaghty cuz she gets on her knees and prays REAL hard, but then she
gets naughtier so... hehehehe

god bless her soul lol

i agree recon, i think that there will still be the same reaction as far
as the emotion goes in both instances but if you can manage a scan
during the experience i was womdering if there would be stimulus in
another region along with the original one

He sure blessed me lol...she's a keeper and that ain't even the reason
why lol

maybe

ok, back to the topic..When you have certain memories, they all fire off
different parts of the brain depending on the emotions they evoke, who's
to say that mystical experiences and their memories don't do the same? A
mystical experience, especially if it's what one perceives to be a truly
religious experience, would be a very emotional time, but since not
everyone has that kind of experience does that make the emotion any less
real?
I can tell you, I'd be interested to see if there was any difference in
my brain waves during my out of body experiences, none of which were
under any kind of duress. I was actually either at extreme peace and
resting(not sleeping) or focused intently on one thing. After reading
about it at a young age I learned that what I was doing was meditation,
and that meditation was the doorway to the etheral world. I've learned
to do this almost anytime I want but I still slip into it from time to
time before I realize it's happening. I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that
the brain activity would be in areas there's usually very little, if any
at all. Does this prove the exisitence of God? No, but it does prove
that there is a force or forces at work out there that we have no idea
are there unless we have the ability to tap into them. And maybe, JUST
maybe, God is one of those forces and faith is how we tap into Him. This
ability didn't come about from a life altering event or near death
experience, it just happened one day. I've never been a deeply
religious person, I've given up on church because I find it too full of
hypocrits, but I never lost my faith or belief..I've questioned it from
time to time, never openly, just to myself, but never lost it.

But still it brings into question that the study was conducted long
after they had this experience and not while having it. I think there
would be a profound difference had they been able to record the brain
while, say they were seeing a ghost or some spirit. But most of that
stuff, If they really happen, occurs in privet so there's no way to
actually see what the brain waves show.
If for instance they could show the brain waves of someone dying since
dying is considered a religious experience and I think all you would see
is a choice image. They know that the brain, while a person is dying,
goes in a chaotic state. Thus the images they see is from the brain
cells dying off much like a hallucinogen drug.
So is the nuns experience real or just an over welling sense of emotion
though their passion of their choice of lifestyle?

This is kinda interesting, and brings up questions. Like if there really
are God spots, what happens if a person gets hit in the head on one of
those spots? Do they stop having the same religous beliefs, or any at
all? Or what role would mental illness play on those God spots?

Makes one think, eh? -=x