Got God? NPR Science Series Examines Your Brain

National Public Radio's recent 5-part series on the "Science of Spirituality" tackles the physiological and psychological aspects of the experience of faith. It's one of those expanded series that reminds me why I've always adored the station for its meaningful discussions -- like hanging out with intelligentsia with a heart.

Drawing from the latest research, compiled by author Barbara Bradley Haggerty for her new book Fingerprints of God, the first piece in the series explores the "God Chemical," or how serotonin is activated in the brain by spiritual experience.

The second piece, which is named the "God Spot" (a bit too cute for my taste) tells how the temporal lobe, where epilepsy occurs, is the seat of spirituality in the brain. The hint that past saints were all epileptics strains credulity just a tad.

The third story on "Spiritual Virtuosos" explains how deeply spiritual people "reshape" their brains through prayer or meditation, improving their concentration through frontal lobe activity, or increasing their orientation and visualization through stimulating the parietal lobe.

The fourth piece, "The Biology of Belief," is the one I heard on the radio, which set me off in search of the website. The logical fallacies spouted by scientists intrigued me. It was as though they had a score to settle for Gallileo and Bruno.

The fifth piece, "Near Death Experiences," takes on the topic that has generated so much interest in popular books, film and TV.

I'm still reading and listening to all of the pieces, so I will have lots more to say about this series. Mostly, for now, it's a thrill to see how the topic is becoming so much a part of our culture. God is not dead, despite the many popular books that argue that He should be. Not by a long shot.