Neurotheology is a two-way street - it is not just neuroscience studying religion, or religion commenting on neuroscience
Neuroscientists are probing our brain's workings like never before, thanks to advanced scientific techniques. They have, in so doing, unravelled the long-hidden mysteries of brain physiology, including what happens during stress. Their new insights suggest that a predominance of stress hormones inhibits new brain cell growth, just as exact regions of the brain activate emotional thought processing and 'hooking up' the complicated relationship that exists between the brain, mind and the endocrine system. The verdict is - we are all hardwired for stress.
New research refers to our stress response as allostasis, the process of achieving stability, or homeostasis, through physiological, or behavioural change. Research suggests that allostasis did not develop with the reason for causing illness. The outcome is striking - scientists observe that for stress to end, there has to be some 'alteration in consciousness.' Wellness physicians call this positive health, a state which begins with a conscious response to stress. It also manifests in a host of healthy behaviours, such as doing exercise, following a wholesome diet and getting sufficient sleep - which, in effect, corresponds to living a balanced life.
While research suggests that we are all wired for stress, it also underscores that we are, in like manner, wired for spirituality. Scientists, who have conducted brain-imaging studies on long-time meditative practitioners and individuals doing contemplative prayer, concur that their blood flow to the prefrontal cortex, which correlates with neuronal activity, indicates how they catalogue a transcendent, or mystical experience. When the brain is deprived of typical sensory information, the 'gag' of conscious thought is opened up, allowing space and time to be perceived differently. This is why people doing mindful meditation describe a certain superior conscious state.
New research for the cerebral 'G-spot' in the brain has also ushered in a whole, new discipline called neurotheology - the study of the neurobiology of spirituality. Scientists are now equally abuzz with the credo that our brain circuitry is 'naturally endowed' to recording mystical experiences. This validates the groundwork that meditation - which the noted mind-body physician, Herbert Benson, MD, pioneered in the 1960s - promotes relaxation response, while bringing about tangible mindful experiences.
As Andrew Newberg, MD, a neuroscientist and pioneer in the field of neurotheology, puts it, "Neurotheology is an emerging field of study that seeks to understand the relationship, or link, between our brain and our religious and spiritual selves. It is important to realise that neurotheology is a two-way street, so that it is not just neuroscience studying religion, or religion commenting on neuroscience. Rather, neurotheology is trying to blend the best from science and the spiritual to ultimately help us better understand ourselves as human beings and how we relate to each other in the world."
He adds, "I like to say that both sides of neurotheology need to be expanded as fully as possible. By that I mean that the 'neuro' side needs to include neuroscience, neuroimaging, psychology, medicine, and even anthropology. On the other hand, the 'theology' side is not just about theology proper (a formal discipline that explores specific religious, or spiritual traditions), but includes and explores religious and spiritual practices, beliefs, and experiences. Finally, the topics of neurotheology can range from the most esoteric to the most practical. We can explore questions, such as the nature of reality, or free will, as well as consider what types of meditation practices might be best used to help people suffering from depression, or coping with the death of a loved one."
None of this connotes that beating stress is like locking your mind up - it actually relates to how we all react to it. Our mind is always cock-a-hoop in triggering the worst possible scenario, a state of doom, while eliciting the greatest sum total of empathetic sympathy. This is why our troubles, which are actually molehills, are given the contour of mountains. Not all of us are endowed with the meditative abilities of expert practitioners. Not all of us live through the Eastern aphorism that says the best thing to do is to take the middle path, or employ the practical adage that 'the way out is through.' This is why we don't deal with stress like diplomats, but like caged tigers, because life is not a bed of roses, or a stroll in the garden of contentment. We all face life's challenges -illness, financial worries, a hostile work environment, job loss, elderly care and 'revolutionary' teenagers. Here comes the 'catch' - such problems sound similar to all of us, the difference being of degree. They also seem undefeatable.
The assessment of spirituality and religion often follow from delineations. There are a host of measures of different aspects of religiosity and spirituality characteristically based on subjective surveys. They often include questions about beliefs, or how beliefs are integrated into one's life, sincerity to beliefs, dread of death, mystical experiences, among others. The crux is - spirituality and religiosity are such subjective experiences that it would be perennially perplexing to figuring out the most ideal mode of deciphering them.
Picture this - spiritual elements in psychotherapeutic programmes provide tangible, or palpable, success. It is obvious that mindfulness, including behavioural therapies, help people to accept their psychological, or psychiatric, issues because most problems can be dealt with effectively through such a holistic approach. Just think of it. Going for a walk in the park, or doing exercise, can be relaxing, also rejuvenating, for the mind to resolve problems and ease stress.
Nidamboor is a wellness physician, independent researcher and author