Selflessness linked to brain activity
A U.S. researcher suggests people, despite cultural background or religion, experience the same neuropsychological functions during spiritual experiences.
Brick Johnstone, a neuropsychologist at the University of Missouri, said that transcendence — feelings of universal unity and decreased sense of self — is a core tenet of all major religions. Meditation and prayer are the primary vehicles by which such spiritual transcendence is achieved.
“The brain functions in a certain way during spiritual experiences,” Johnstone said in a statement. “We studied people with brain injury and found that people with injuries to the right parietal lobe of the brain reported higher levels of spiritual experiences, such as transcendence.”
Johnstone explained that the link is important because it means selflessness can be learned by decreasing activity in that part of the brain. He suggests this can be done through conscious effort, such as meditation or prayer. People with these selfless spiritual experiences also are more psychologically healthy, especially if they have positive beliefs that there is a God or higher power who loves them, Johnstone said.
“It is important to note that individuals experience their God or higher power in many different ways, but that all people from all religions and beliefs appear to experience these connections in a similar way,” Johnstone said.
The finding is published in the journal Zygon.
3 Responses to “Selflessness linked to brain activity”
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You’re currently reading “Selflessness linked to brain activity,” an entry on Bodhipaksa's blog, bodhi tree swaying
Published: Jan 12 2009
It´s interesting (and nice) to see more and more studies telling us what should be obvious – cultivating human virtues is good for you. Friendship, trust, selfless feelings, spirituality, etc all contribute to our happiness. Even though we´re going through such materialistic phase in history, I really don´t believe in the ‘death of kindness’ discussed in the previous article. Trusting kindness is becoming rare but at the same time, people are becoming more insecure, unhappy and experiencing mental problems etc. And that´s bringing about so many ideas, theories, etc about well being and what does make us happy, such as this that spiritual experience helps you feel well.
I agree the “death of kindness” article was overstated, but I also believe there was a degree of truth in it. I remember being shocked in the early days of the Thatcher era, to bump into someone I used to work with as I was getting on a train. He made this big statement that you had to grab the best seats and that that’s what life was all about, grabbing what you could before other people could beat you to it. It was an unspeakably vile moment because I realized that he wasn’t just expressing a personal belief but was encapsulating the new right-wing zeitgeist — the same one that promised that taxing poor people more heavily (through sales taxes) and cutting taxes for the rich would make us all better off because of “trickle-down economics.” I saw in that statement the world that I knew and largely liked in the process of dismantlement. I don’t want to imply that I think it’s an entirely right-wing thing, though.
Anyway, yes, it is interesting now that we can start to measure things like wellbeing (or its neural correlates) and we can see that what people have been saying for millennia is actually true — that generosity makes you happier than greed (sorry, Maggie!), that compassion is rewarding in and of itself, even without any implied quid pro quo, etc. We do tend to trust things more when we can measure them! Or even better, see pretty pictures of bits of the brain lighting up.
Thanks very much for continuing to comment, by the way. I appreciate the connection and the stimulation it brings.
You´re very welcome. Actually I´m the one who must thank you, it has been really good to read your articles and comments.
By the way, discovering that ‘generosity makes you happier than greed’ , as you said, must confuse the guys who believed that when somebody gains somebody else has to lose.