The God Point in the Brain
By Tomás Núñez, ThD
Human religiosity has a biological basis in the brain, as some neuroscientists
have studied and called the "God Point." It is the source of the spiritual intelligence we
must develop throughout our lives.
I am convinced that: "The 'God Point' in the Brain. The Biological Basis of
Spirituality" has a biological basis in religiosity, what scientists have called the "God
Point" in the brain, which is why it is present in all human beings. In this way, religion is
not something restricted to religious institutions, nor is it optional, but something
permanent, always active when we search for the meaning of life when we experience
love, solidarity, profound peace, and communion with all things.
The world's religions are ways of expressing this "God Point" through rituals,
behaviors, and doctrines. They all have this "something" in common, despite having
different expressions depending on the culture.
This allows us to appreciate this wave of mysticism and religiosity that permeates
our culture and floods mass media such as radio and television. Religion offers us tools
to spiritualize our lives beyond what established religions and churches can offer us.
Brain studies highlight three types of intelligence:
The first is intellectual intelligence, what we know as the Intelligence Quotient
(IQ). This is analytical intelligence, through which we develop concepts and conduct
science. With it, we organize the world, states, businesses, and all types of bureaucracy
and solve objective problems.
The second is emotional intelligence, popularized mainly by Harvard professor,
psychologist, and neurologist Daniel Goleman, with his well-known book Emotional
Intelligence. It has been proven that the basic structure of the human being is not
reason (logos), but emotion (pathos). We are, fundamentally, beings of passion,
empathy, compassion, and love.
The third is spiritual intelligence, recently recognized by neurologists,
neurolinguists, and magnetoencephalography technicians. Through it, we grasp the
larger contexts of our lives, creatively break boundaries, perceive unities, and feel
embedded in the Whole. We become sensitive to values, questions of life's meaning,
and themes linked to God and transcendence.
This awareness has a biological basis in neurons. When the brain's temporal
lobes are excited at a specific frequency, a spiritual experience of exaltation, immense
joy, and happiness is triggered, like someone standing before a Presence.
It has been observed that whenever religious themes, God, or values that
concern the profound meaning of things are addressed, not superficially but with a
sincere and profound commitment, an excitation is produced that goes beyond the
normal 40 hertz. Hence, neurobiologists such as Persinger and Ramachandran, and
quantum physicist Danah Zohar, have named this region of the temporal lobes the "God
point" (see D. Zohar's book, Spiritual Intelligence, Barcelona 2001). Others prefer to
speak of the "mystical mind."
However, this does not mean God is only at that point in the brain. God
permeates all reality. But the "God point" is an internal organ through which we
recognize His presence in everything and ourselves.
But it is not enough to simply recognize the "God point" in the brain; we must
develop this spiritual intelligence by turning inward and dialoguing with our Center and
with the Deep within us.
The "God point" nourishes our resistance to doing evil and strengthens us in
pursuing good and all kinds of values, especially those that involve openness to others,
protection of life, especially the most vulnerable, compassion, forgiveness, and
unconditional love.
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