Biology. The Birth of a Myth The Mystery of God and Brain Science Newberg

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Andrew Newberg, Eugene D'Aquili, Vince Rouse
The Mystery of God and the Science of the Brain. Neurobiology of Faith and Religious Experience

To our families

* * *

“This is truly brilliant... One of the most amazing books I have read in my neuropsychiatry and intuition studies.”

Mona Lisa Schultz, MD, PhD, author of Awakening Your Intuition

“This work is extremely important for the further development of relations between science and religion. As scientists who have studied the neurobiological foundations of religious experience and provided its theological analysis and assessment, the authors of this book are one of a kind. The book convincingly shows us that the mind is inevitably inclined towards spirituality and religious experiences."

Father Ronald Murphy, Jesuit Order, Professor, Georgetown University

“This important book introduces the general reader, researcher, and clinician to new discoveries in neuroscience regarding the influence of spiritual experiences on the brain, health, and disease. An excellent textbook."

David Larson, MD, MPH, President, National Institute for Health Research

“The amazing work of the University of Pennsylvania Medical Research Department in the emerging field of neurotheology.”

National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Association (Canada) publication NAPRA ReView

“This book will make you think deeply about religion... because it provides a framework for thinking and discussing the spiritual life. Newberg, D'Aquili, and Rouse have done a great job in writing this bold book. It should be read not only in religious circles, but also in book discussion groups and schools.”

The Providence Journal

“Easy written and easy to read... a fascinating book about the relationship between our mind and ultimate reality.”

Catholic Digest Magazine

1. Photo of God. Introduction to the Biology of Belief

In a small, dark laboratory at a large university hospital, a young man named Robert lights candles, burns a stick of jasmine incense, and then sits on the floor and easily assumes the lotus position. A committed Buddhist who practices Tibetan meditation, he is about to embark on an inner contemplative journey once again. As usual, Robert strives for the incessant chatter of the mind to subside so that he can immerse himself in a deeper and clearer inner reality. He has made similar journeys a thousand times before, but now something special happens: while he enters into the inner spiritual reality, so that the material world around him becomes a pale illusion, he almost literally remains connected to the physical here and now with the help of a cotton twine.

One folded end of the string lies near Robert, the other is behind the closed laboratory door in the next room on my finger - I am sitting with my friend and long-time research colleague, Dr. Eugene d'Aquili. Gene and I wait for Robert to signal to us through the string that his meditative state has reached its transcendental peak. It is the moment of spiritual uplift that is of particular interest to us. 1
Because judging the moment when meditation reaches its peak is extremely subjective, it is very difficult to define and even more difficult to measure. Nevertheless, such a “peak” state is extremely interesting, since it carries the deepest spiritual meaning and has the greatest impact on a person. The peak experience can be identified using several different tools that allow you to simultaneously monitor changes in different parameters. The easiest way to identify such moments is by monitoring indicators such as blood flow in the brain, electrical activity of the brain and certain somatic reactions, in particular blood pressure and heart rate. When starting our research, we tried to focus on the subjective feelings of a person assessing his experiences. That is why the meditating subjects kept a string next to them, which allowed them, without disturbing the process of meditation, to give us a signal at the moment when they reached the deepest state. As we studied the most experienced meditation practitioners, the string had little or no hindrance. More research will be needed to study these conditions in more detail. For now, suffice it to say that we can study or hypothesize about peak states from studying “lesser” states, even though we have difficulty understanding when and how these peak experiences arise. It is worth mentioning the names of two other most important participants in our research: Dr. Abass Alavi, head of the nuclear medicine department at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, who gave me great support, although sometimes I did some strange things, and Dr. Michael Baym, associated with the same University of Pennsylvania. , an internal medicine specialist who practices Tibetan Buddhism.

Method: How to Capture Spiritual Reality

Over the years, Gene and I have studied the relationship between religious experience and brain function, and we hoped that by examining Robert's brain activity during the most intense and mystical moments of his meditation, we could better understand the mysterious connections between man's consciousness and his constant, irresistible urge to establish a relationship with something greater than oneself.

Earlier, while talking to us, Robert tried to describe to us in words how his meditation reaches a spiritual peak. First, he said, the mind calms down, which allows a deeper and more defined part of the Self to emerge. Robert believes that the inner Self is the most authentic part of his identity, and this part never changes. For Robert, this inner self is not a metaphor or just an attitude, it has a literal meaning, it is stable and real. This is what remains when consciousness leaves its worries, fears, desires and other activities. He believes that this inner Self constitutes the very essence of his being. If Robert is pressed in conversation, he may even call his own self his “soul.” 2
Here the word "soul" is used in its broadest sense, otherwise it might create confusion between Eastern and Western ideas about religion and spirituality. Buddhist ideas are very difficult to explain within the framework of Western thinking. However, here we have tried to present these ideas in as simple a form as possible.

“There is a feeling of eternity and infinity...

At this moment, it’s as if I become a part of everyone and everything, joining the existing one.”

Robert says that when this deep consciousness (whatever its nature) arises in moments of meditation, when he is completely absorbed in the contemplation of the inner, he suddenly begins to understand that his inner Self is not something isolated, but that it is inextricably linked with all creation . However, when he tries to describe this intensely personal experience in words, he inevitably resorts to familiar clichés that people have used for centuries to try to talk about inexplicable spiritual experiences. “There is a feeling of eternity and infinity,” he might say. “At this moment, I seem to become a part of everyone and everything, I join the existing.” 3
When describing their experiences, our subjects usually talk about a feeling of unity with the world, the disappearance of the Self and strong emotions, usually associated with a state of deep peace.

For a traditional scientist such words have no value. Science is concerned with what can be weighed, counted and measured - and anything that cannot be verified on the basis of objective observation simply cannot be called scientific. Although if any scientist were interested in Robert's experience, he, as a professional, would have to say that the words "meditation practice" are too personal and too speculative in nature, so that they are unlikely to indicate any specific phenomenon in the material world. 4
Typically, the scientific method allows only those things to be called “real” that can be measured.

However, after many years of research, Gene and I became convinced that the experiences Robert reported were very real and could be measured and verified by real science. 5
The word "real" here does not necessarily imply that there is some external reality associated with the experience, but rather that the experience has at least an internal reality.

This is what makes me sit behind Gene in the cramped examination room, holding a thin string between my fingers: I wait for Robert to have his moment of mystical flight, because I want to “photograph” this experience. 6
We understand that this is not just “photography”, but this is the essence of our work. Accurately capturing the moment of an intense mystical experience is not easy, and even though our subjects plan their meditation exercises, it is very difficult to predict how long such a state will last and how strong it will be. However, we believe we are able to study the brain processes that underlie the process of meditation and create a clear and surprising picture of how the brain works during spiritual experiences.

Spiritual experiences are real and can be measured and verified through real science

Robert meditates and we wait for about an hour. Then I feel him gently tugging on the string. This means it's time for me to inject the radioactive material into the IV and send it down a long tube into the vein in Robert's left arm. We give him a little more time to complete his meditation and then immediately take him to one of the rooms in the nuclear medicine department, where there is a state-of-the-art single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) machine. Robert instantly finds himself on a metal table, and three gamma cameras begin to rotate around his head with the help of precise robotic movement.

A SPECT camera is a high-tech imaging device that detects radioactive radiation 7
There are some other imaging technologies, similar to SPECT, that can be used to study brain activity. These are positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Each of these techniques has its advantages and disadvantages compared to others. We chose SPECT for practical reasons: this technique allowed the subject to engage in meditation outside the scanning device, which would be more difficult to do with PET and completely impossible with fMRI.

SPECT cameras scan Robert's head, revealing the accumulation of radioactive material that we injected the moment he pulled the string. This material spreads through the blood vessels and almost instantly reaches the brain cells, where it remains for several hours. Thus, the SPECT method gives us an accurate freeze-frame of the state of blood flow in Robert’s brain immediately after the injection of the substance - that is, precisely at the peak moment of meditation.

Increased blood flow to one part of the brain indicates increased activity in that area 8
In general, increased blood flow is associated with increased activity because the brain itself regulates its blood flow depending on the needs of its individual areas. Although this is not an absolute rule. There is no such association in the case of stroke or head injury. In addition, some nerve cells activate certain parts of the brain, while other cells suppress their activity. Thus, an increase in blood flow may indicate suppression of activity, leading to a decrease in brain activity overall.

Since we now have a fairly good understanding of the functions of individual areas of the brain, we can expect that SPECT will provide us with a picture of Robert's brain functioning at the climax of his meditation.

Data we receive

The data obtained is really interesting. In the scans, we see evidence of unusual activity in a small area of gray matter at the top of the back of the brain (see Figure 1). This plexus of neurons with a highly specialized function is called the posterior superior parietal lobe, but for this book we have come up with a different name for this region: the orientation-associative area, or OAZ. 9
It should be noted here that in this book we often use terms unknown to science; sometimes we use our own concepts that should help the reader understand the mechanism of how the brain works. However, we have tried to provide indications of scientific terms for those interested.

The primary task of OAZ is human orientation in physical space. It judges what is above and what is below, helps us judge angles and distances, and allows us to navigate safely in dangerous physical environments. 10
In this book we will talk about the functions of different parts of the brain. Although functions are to some extent tied to certain parts of the brain, we should not forget that the brain always works as a single system, where the work of each individual part requires the coordinated work of other parts.

To perform such a function, this zone must first of all have a clear and stable image of the physical boundaries of a person. To put it simply, it should clearly separate you from everything else, from what is not you, from what makes up the rest of the universe.

Rice. 1: The top row shows an image of the subject's brain while he is resting; one can see that the level of activity is evenly distributed throughout the brain. (The upper part of the image is the anterior part of the brain, the associative zone of attention, CBA, and the lower part corresponds to the orientation-associative zone, OAZ.) In the bottom row are images of the subject’s brain during meditation, with activity in the left orientation zone (to your right) noticeably smaller than the corresponding right zone. (The darker the area, the more activity it has, and the lighter the area, the less activity.) We present the images here in black and white because this gives the image the right amount of contrast when printed, although on a computer screen we see the images in color.

It may seem strange that the brain would need a special mechanism to distinguish you from everything else in the world; For normal consciousness, this difference seems something ridiculously obvious. But this is explained precisely by the fact that OAZ performs its work conscientiously and discreetly. And when this area of the brain is damaged, it is extremely difficult for a person to move in space. When such a person, for example, approaches the bed, the brain spends so much energy constantly assessing angles, depths and distances that without its help simply lying down becomes an impossibly difficult task for the person. Without the help of the orientation zone, which constantly monitors the changing position of the body, a person cannot find his place in space, either mentally or physically, so that when trying to lie down on the bed he may fall to the floor or, if he managed to find himself on the mattress, when he If he wants to lie down more comfortably, he will press himself against the wall in an uncomfortable position.

But under normal circumstances, OAZ helps create a clear sense of our physical position in the world, so that we don't have to think about it at all. To do its job well, the orientation zone requires a constant flow of nerve impulses from sensory sensors throughout the body. The OAZ sorts and processes these impulses at an uncanny speed at every moment of our lives. In its incredible performance and speed, it surpasses the most modern computers.

It is therefore not surprising that SPECT imaging of Robert's brain, performed before meditation in his normal state of consciousness (baseline), shows that many areas of the brain, including the orientation area, are in a state of high activity. At the same time, we see pulsating flashes of bright red or yellow color on the screen.

When Robert's meditation reaches its peak, brain images show this area to be colored in cool green and blue tones, indicating a sharp decrease in its activity.

This discovery fascinated us. We know that the orientation zone never rests: how then can we explain this unusual decrease in activity in this small part of the brain?

And here we came up with an amazing idea: if the orientation zone continues to work with normal intensity, but something has blocked the flow of sensory information to it 11
This kind of blocking of information flow is observed in some processes - both normal and pathological. Many brain structures are deprived of the influx of information due to the action of various inhibitory systems. We will talk about such processes in more detail below.

This hypothesis would explain the decrease in brain activity in this area. And something else is even more curious: this could mean that OAZ temporarily “goes blind”; it is deprived of the information that it needs for normal operation.

What should happen, we asked ourselves, when OAZ is deprived of the information necessary for its work? Will she continue to monitor the boundaries of the body? But if the OAZ stops receiving the necessary information, it will not be able to determine these boundaries.

How will the brain act in this case? Perhaps the zone of orientation, unable to find the boundaries of the bodily self, will admit that such boundaries do not exist? Perhaps in this case the brain will be able to endow the Self with infinity and perceive it as a system of connections with everyone and everything that is in the sphere of the mind. And such a picture is perceived as the final and indisputable reality.

This is how Robert and generations of Eastern mystics who came before described their peak mystical and spiritual experiences and highest moments of meditation. Here's how the Hindu Upanishads talk about it:

Like a river flowing east and west
Flows into the sea and becomes one with it,
Completely forgetting about the existence of individual rivers,
Thus all creations lose their separateness,
When they finally merge.12
Quote from: Easwaran, 1987.

Robert was one of our eight subjects who practiced Tibetan meditation. In each case, this was the same routine procedure, and in virtually all subjects, the SPECT scan revealed a decrease in activity in the orientation zone at the moment when their meditation reached its peak. 13
Although not all subjects showed a specific decrease in activity in the orientation area, a strong negative correlation could be found between increased activity in the frontal lobe (the area of the brain involved in focusing attention) and activity in the orientation area. From these data the following conclusion followed: the better the subject fixes attention during meditation, the more the flow of information to the orientation zone is inhibited. But why did not all subjects show a decrease in the activity of the orientation zone? There are two possible explanations here. Firstly, perhaps the subject whose OAZ activity did not decrease was not as successful in meditation as the others, and although we have always tried to evaluate the process of meditation, this is a deeply subjective state that is difficult to measure. Second, this study allowed us to study only one specific moment of meditation. It is possible that in its early stages there is an increase in the activity of the orientation zone, when the subject focuses his attention on a visual image. Perhaps we could observe that the activity of the orientation zone increases, remains at a basic level, or decreases depending on the stage of meditation in which the subject is actually in, although he himself believes that he is in a deeper stage. We will discuss the implications of these data in more detail in the chapter on mystical experience.

Later we expanded the scope of the experiment and studied several Franciscan nuns in prayer in the same way 14
For more information on these experiments, see: Newberg et al. 1997, 2000.

Once again, SPECT scans showed that similar changes in brain activity could be observed in the sisters during peak moments of religious experience. However, unlike the Buddhists, the sisters described their experience differently: they spoke of a clear sense of the closeness of God and merging with Him 15
We will habitually use the masculine gender when speaking about God, although He can be imagined in a different way.

Their descriptions were similar to the words of Christian mystics of the past, including these words of the 13th century Franciscan nun Angela of Foligno: “How great is the mercy of Him who brings about this union... I possessed God in such completeness that I no longer lived in my usual state, but I was led to a world in which I was united with God and could enjoy everything.”

In the course of our research and accumulation of data, Gene and I have found what we believe to be reliable evidence that our subjects' mystical experiences—an altered state of consciousness in which they say the Self merges with something larger—were not merely emotional a curiosity or simply a figment of fantasy, but always corresponded to a number of observed neurological phenomena, quite unusual, but not beyond the normal functioning of the brain. In other words, mystical experience is real from a biological point of view, observable and can be the subject of scientific research.

During peak moments of religious experience, significant changes in brain activity can be observed

This result was not unexpected for us. In fact, all of our previous studies were able to predict it. Over the years, we have scoured scientific literature on the relationship between religious practices and the brain, trying to understand the biological basis of belief. We studied a large number of different materials. Some studies examined the issues that interest us at the level of simple physiology - for example, they talked about changes in blood pressure during meditation. Others concerned much more sublime matter - for example, there was an attempt to measure the healing power of prayer. We got acquainted with studies of the condition of people who experienced clinical death, studied mystical emotions caused by epilepsy and schizophrenia, and collected data on hallucinations provoked by chemicals or electrical stimulation of parts of the brain.

In addition to studying scientific literature, we looked for descriptions of mystical experiences in world religions and myths. In particular, Jin studied the ritual practices of ancient cultures and tried to find a connection between the emergence of rituals and the evolution of the human brain. There is a wealth of evidence regarding this relationship between religious ritual and the brain, but little of it has been cataloged or integrated into a coherent picture. But as Gene and I explored mountains of knowledge about religious experience, ritual, and the brain, some pieces of the puzzle began to form into pictures that had deeper meaning. Gradually we created the hypothesis that spiritual experience - by its very roots - is closely connected with the biological essence of man. In a sense, biology determines spiritual aspirations.

Spiritual experience, by its very roots, is closely connected with the biological essence of man

SPECT scanning allowed us to begin testing our hypothesis by examining the brain activity of people engaged in spiritual practices. This is not to say that our results absolutely prove that we are right, but they support our hypothesis by demonstrating that at the moment of spiritual experience the brain behaves as our theory predicted 16
These studies were only our first attempt to empirically study the neurophysiology of spiritual experience. Nevertheless, the results obtained, as well as the results of other studies (see: Herzog et al. 1990-1991, Lou et al. 1999), confirmed the most important provisions of our hypothesis.

These encouraging results deepened our enthusiasm for the work and increased our interest in questions that had occupied us for many years of research. These are the issues we have focused our attention on. Is people's need to create myths rooted in their biology? What is the neurological secret of the power of ritual? What is the nature of the visions and revelations of the great mystics: are these phenomena associated with mental or emotional disorders, or are they the result of an integral system of sensory data processing during the normal functioning of a healthy and stable psyche from a neurological point of view? Could evolutionary factors such as sexuality and mate seeking influence the biological aspect of religious ecstasy?

As we tried to better understand what our theory implied, we were again and again confronted with the same question, which seemed to be central to all others: have we found a common biological root for all religious experiences? And if found, what does this theory tell us about the nature of the spiritual quest?

A skeptic might say that if all spiritual aspirations and experiences, including the desire of people to come into contact with the divine, are biological in nature, this is explained by a delusional state, a violation of the biochemical processes in the accumulation of nerve cells.

However, data from SPECT studies suggest another possibility. The orientation zone here was operating in an unusual manner, but it was not working incorrectly, and we believe that the color images of the tomogram on the computer screen showed us how the brain turns spiritual experience into reality. After years of literature and research, Gene and I continue to believe that we were dealing with actual neurological processes that have evolved to enable us humans to transcend our material existence and connect with a deeper, spiritual part of ourselves that is perceived by us as an absolute and universal reality that connects us with everything that exists.

In this book we intend to provide context for these surprising hypotheses. We will look at the biological side of the human desire to create myths and show the neurological mechanisms that give these myths shape and power. We will talk about the relationship between myth and ritual and explain how ritual behavior affects the nerve cells of the brain, creating states that are associated with a range of experiences of the transcendental, from a slight sense of spiritual community with members of the congregation to a deeper sense of unity that is manifested in participation in intense and prolonged religious rituals. We will show that the deep spiritual experiences of saints and mystics of any religion and any era can also be associated with the brain activity that gives ritual its transcendental power. We will also show how the brain's tendency to interpret such experiences may provide a biological basis for various specific religious beliefs.

My colleague and friend Jean d'Aquili, sadly, died shortly before work on this book began, and he is sorely missed here. It was Gene who inspired me to study the relationship between mind and spirit, and it was he who taught me to look with new eyes at the complex structure of the unique organ located in our skull. Our work together - the scientific research on which this book is based - has forced me again and again to reconsider my core beliefs about religion and, indeed, about life, reality, and even the sense of self. It has been a journey of self discovery in which I was changing, which I think our brains are calling us to do. What follows in these pages is a journey into the deepest secrets of the brain, to the very core of our Self. It begins with the simplest question: how does the brain determine what is real?

Religious bestseller

"This work is extremely important for the further development of the relationship between science and religion. As scientists who have studied the neurobiological foundations of religious experience, providing its theological analysis and evaluation, the authors of this book are one of a kind. The book convincingly shows us that the mind is inevitably inclined towards spirituality and religious experiences."

Father Ronald Murphy, Jesuit Order, Professor, Georgetown University

Andrew Newberg - The Mystery of God and the Science of the Brain: The Neurobiology of Faith and Religious Experience

Andrew Newberg, Eugene d'Aquili, Rouse Vince; [translated from English by M. I. Zavalov].

M.: Eksmo, 2013. - 320 p.

(Religious bestseller).

ISBN 978-5-699-66783-3

English name -
Why doesn't God go away completely? - Why God won't go away?
Brain science and the biology of belief.

Andrew Newberg, Eugene D Aquili, Vince Rouse - The Mystery of God and Brain Science: The Neurobiology of Faith and Religious Experience - Contents

Photograph of God
Brain apparatus
Brain architecture
Production of myths
Ritual
Mysticism
Origin of religion
More real than real
Why God won't disappear
Epilogue. So what is neurotheology?

The name is motivated by the following, as I understand it - we all live in a world filled with senseless evil and it is practically impossible to imagine that this is the result of the creation of a Good Almighty God, but many millions of people stubbornly continue to believe in God.

Where does this stubbornness come from? Why doesn't God go away completely?

Nowadays, research is being widely conducted in a direction that can be roughly called “biology of faith,” i.e. study of the structures of the neurological structure of the brain, which necessarily leads a person to God.

Andrew Newberg - The Mystery of God and Brain Science - Method: How to Capture Spiritual Reality

For a traditional scientist such words have no value. Science deals with what can be weighed, counted and measured - and everything that cannot be verified on the basis of objective observation simply cannot be called scientific. Although if any scientist were interested in Robert's experience, he, as a professional, would have to say that the words "meditation practice" are too personal and too speculative in nature, so that they are unlikely to indicate any specific phenomenon in the material world.

However, after many years of research, Gene and I became convinced that the experiences Robert reported were very real and could be measured and verified by real science. This is what makes me sit behind Gene in the cramped examination room, holding a thin string between my fingers: I wait for Robert to have his moment of mystical flight, because I want to “photograph” this experience.

Andrew Newberg - How God Affects Your Brain: Revolutionary Discoveries in Neuroscience

The answer to the question of what neuroscience studies is quite short. Neurobiology is a branch of biology and the science that studies the structure, function and physiology of the brain. The very name of this science says that the main objects of study are nerve cells - neurons that make up the entire nervous system.

What does the brain consist of besides neurons?
History of the development of neurobiology
Neurobiological research methods

What does the brain consist of besides neurons?

In addition to the neurons themselves, various cellular glia also take part in the structure of the nervous system, which account for most of the volume of the brain and other parts of the nervous system. Glia are designed to serve and closely interact with neurons, ensuring their normal functioning and vital activity. Therefore, modern brain neurobiology also studies neuroglia and their various functions in providing neurons.

History of the development of neurobiology

The modern history of the development of neurobiology as a science began with a chain of discoveries at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries:

Representatives and supporters of J.-P., founded in the first half of the 19th century. Muller of the German school of physiology (G. von Helmholtz, K. Ludwig, L. Hermann, E. Dubois-Reymond, J. Bernstein, C. Bernard, etc.) were able to prove the electrical nature of the signals transmitted by nerve fibers.
Yu. Bernstein in 1902 proposed a membrane theory describing the excitation of nervous tissue, where potassium ions played a decisive role.
His contemporary E. Overton discovered in the same year that sodium is necessary for generating excitation in the nerve. But contemporaries did not appreciate Overton's work.
C. Bernard and E. Dubois-Reymond suggested that brain signals are transmitted through chemicals.
Russian scientist V.Yu. Chagovets, a little earlier than the publication of Bernstein’s membrane theory, put forward his own ionic theory of the emergence of bioelectric phenomena in 1896. He also experimentally confirmed that electric current has an irritating physicochemical effect.
V.V. stood at the origins of electroencephalography. Pravdich-Neminsky, who in 1913 was able for the first time to record the electrical activity of its brain from the surface of a dog’s skull. And the first recording of a human electroencephalogram was made in 1928 by the Austrian psychiatrist G. Berger.
In the studies of E. Huxley, A. Hodgkin and K. Cole, the mechanisms of neuronal excitability at the cellular and molecular level were revealed. The first in 1939 was able to measure how, when the membrane of giant squid axons is excited, its ionic conductivity changes.
In the 60s, at the Institute of Physiology of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, under the leadership of ac. P. Kostyuk was the first to record ion currents at the moment of excitation of the membranes of neurons in vertebrate and invertebrate animals.

Then the history of the development of neurobiology was supplemented by the discovery of many components involved in the process of intracellular signaling:

phosphatases;
kinases;
enzymes involved in the synthesis of second messengers;
numerous G-proteins and others.

The work of E. Naer and B. Sakman described studies of single ion channels in frog muscle fibers that were activated by acetylcholine. Further development of research methods made it possible to study the activity of various single ion channels present in cell membranes. In the last 20 years, methods of molecular biology have become widely introduced into the fundamentals of neurobiology, which has made it possible to understand the chemical structure of various proteins involved in the processes of intracellular and intercellular signaling. With the help of electron and advanced optical microscopy, as well as laser technologies, it has become possible to study the basic physiology of nerve cells and organelles at the macro and micro levels.

Video about neurobiology - the science of the brain:

Neurobiological research methods

Theoretical research methods in the neurobiology of the human brain are largely based on the study of the central nervous system of animals. The human brain is a product of the long overall evolution of life on the planet, which began in the Archean period and continues to this day. Nature has gone through countless options for the structure of the central nervous system and its constituent elements. Thus, it was noted that neurons with processes and the processes occurring in them in humans remained exactly the same as in much more primitive animals (fish, arthropods, reptiles, amphibians, etc.).

In the development of neurobiology in recent years, intravital sections of the brain of guinea pigs and newborn rats are increasingly being used. Artificially cultured nerve tissue is often used.

What can modern neuroscience methods show? First of all, these are the mechanisms of operation of individual neurons and their processes. To record the bioelectrical activity of the processes or neurons themselves, special microelectrode techniques are used. It may look different depending on the tasks and subjects of research.

There are two types of microelectrodes most commonly used: glass and metal. For the latter, tungsten wire with a thickness of 0.3 to 1 mm is often used. To record the activity of a single neuron, a microelectrode is inserted into a manipulator that can move it very precisely through the animal's brain. The manipulator can work separately or while attached to the object’s skull, depending on the tasks being solved. In the latter case, the device must be miniature, which is why it is called a micromanipulator.

The recorded bioelectrical activity depends on the radius of the microelectrode tip. If this diameter does not exceed 5 microns, then it becomes possible to record the potential of a single neuron if the tip of the electrode approaches the nerve cell under study by approximately 100 microns. If the tip of the microelectrode has a diameter twice as large, then the simultaneous activity of tens or even hundreds of neurons is recorded. Also widely used are microelectrodes made from glass capillaries, the diameters of which range from 1 to 3 mm.

What interesting things do you know about neurobiology? What do you think about this science? Tell us about it in the comments.

Andrew Newberg, Eugene D'Aquili, Vince Rouse

The Mystery of God and the Science of the Brain. Neurobiology of Faith and Religious Experience

To our families

“This is truly brilliant... One of the most amazing books I have read in my neuropsychiatry and intuition studies.”

Mona Lisa Schultz, MD, PhD, author of Awakening Your Intuition

“This work is extremely important for the further development of relations between science and religion. As scientists who have studied the neurobiological foundations of religious experience and provided its theological analysis and assessment, the authors of this book are one of a kind. The book convincingly shows us that the mind is inevitably inclined towards spirituality and religious experiences."

Father Ronald Murphy, Jesuit Order, Professor, Georgetown University

“This important book introduces the general reader, researcher, and clinician to new discoveries in neuroscience regarding the influence of spiritual experiences on the brain, health, and disease. An excellent textbook."

David Larson, MD, MPH, President, National Institute for Health Research

“The amazing work of the University of Pennsylvania Medical Research Department in the emerging field of neurotheology.”

National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Association (Canada) publication NAPRA ReView

“This book will make you think deeply about religion... because it provides a framework for thinking and discussing the spiritual life. Newberg, D'Aquili, and Rouse have done a great job in writing this bold book. It should be read not only in religious circles, but also in book discussion groups and schools.”

The Providence Journal

“Easy written and easy to read... a fascinating book about the relationship between our mind and ultimate reality.”

Catholic Digest Magazine

1. Photo of God. Introduction to the Biology of Belief

Method: How to Capture Spiritual Reality

“There is a feeling of eternity and infinity...

Andrew Newberg, Eugene D'Aquili, Vince Rouse

The Mystery of God and the Science of the Brain. Neurobiology of Faith and Religious Experience

To our families

“This is truly brilliant... One of the most amazing books I have read in my neuropsychiatry and intuition studies.”

Mona Lisa Schultz, MD, PhD, author of Awakening Your Intuition

Father Ronald Murphy, Jesuit Order, Professor, Georgetown University

David Larson, MD, MPH, President, National Institute for Health Research

“The amazing work of the University of Pennsylvania Medical Research Department in the emerging field of neurotheology.”

National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Association (Canada) publication NAPRA ReView

The Providence Journal

“Easy written and easy to read... a fascinating book about the relationship between our mind and ultimate reality.”

Catholic Digest Magazine

1. Photo of God. Introduction to the Biology of Belief

Method: How to Capture Spiritual Reality

“There is a feeling of eternity and infinity...

At this moment, it’s as if I become a part of everyone and everything, joining the existing one.”

Spiritual experiences are real and can be measured and verified through real science

A SPECT camera is a high-tech imaging device that detects radioactive radiation. SPECT cameras scan Robert's head, revealing the accumulation of radioactive material that we injected the moment he pulled the string. This material spreads through the blood vessels and almost instantly reaches the brain cells, where it remains for several hours. Thus, the SPECT method gives us an accurate freeze-frame of the state of blood flow in Robert’s brain immediately after the injection of the substance - that is, precisely at the peak moment of meditation.

Increased blood flow to one part of the brain indicates increased activity in that area. Since we now have a fairly good understanding of the functions of individual areas of the brain, we can expect that SPECT will provide us with a picture of Robert's brain functioning at the climax of his meditation.

Data we receive

The primary task of OAZ is human orientation in physical space. It judges what is above and what is below, helps us judge angles and distances, and allows us to navigate safely in dangerous physical environments. To perform such a function, this zone must first of all have a clear and stable image of the physical boundaries of a person. To put it simply, it should clearly separate you from everything else, from what is not you, from what makes up the rest of the universe.