?I am god’. This is one of the phrases that young John Sharon used to say to his neighbors when he suffered one of his epileptic seizures. Unexpectedly, he was immersed in a sense of omnipotence and in the belief that he could guide the rest of the humans like a prophet . During his attacks, John felt intense, almost unbearable pain, but at the same time and surprisingly, he felt enormous happiness. And all this in a man who said that he had never been religious before in his life.
This is one of the cases of temporal lobe epilepsy studied by Dr. Ramachandran, a prestigious neurologist at the University of California. However, this is not the only time that this area of the brain has been linked to mystical experience . Other cases of what has been called “Dostoevsky epilepsy” are known. These ecstatic crises are episodes whose aura (the moment before the attack) includes a feeling of extreme happiness, great pleasure (not sexual), and the feeling of being connected to the universe but isolated from reality. Most cases begin with a simple hallucination, a bright light, and progress to complex hallucinations, usually religious in nature, such as angels, Christ, heaven or hell. Dostoevsky himself experienced this type of hallucinations and sensations, and described them through several of his literary characters, which is why this type of epilepsy has received his name. Other historical figures such as Teresa de Jesús or Juana de Arco could have suffered from this pathology according to various authors .
More common in the right hemisphere
What does seem clear is that this type of crisis related to religious experience tends to be located in the temporal lobes of the brain, and more frequently in the right hemisphere. In fact, according to studies from the University of California, people with temporal lobe epilepsy have a higher emotional response to words like ‘God’ , which could mean that they have a propensity towards religious feelings. According to Ramachandran, it might even appear that an entire architecture for the processing of religious information exists in our brains. The research carried out by the University of Montreal with a group of Carmelite nuns is interesting. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, their brain activity was studied while they were in what they called “subjective union with God.” The data showed increased activation in the right orbitofrontal, temporal and parietal areas, as well as in part of the limbic system and the brainstem. There has also been an approach to other forms of spirituality such as that of the Buddhist monks of Tibet, experts in meditation, who also show a different pattern of brain activity.
Without any intention of judging or invalidating the religious experience of each of the mortals, neuroscientific studies try to understand in an objective way the relationship between people and the idea of God, and thus approach this aspect of humanity.
Marisa Fernández, Senior Neuropsychologist, Unobrain
