The Interplay of Neuroscience and Environment in Religious Development

Leeron Carmi

Is there a God Gene?

As I have matured and advanced both in my studies of science and religion, respectively, I have begun to ponder the causes of one's spiritual attitudes. What makes an individual more or less spiritually-inclined than others? Can one's level of religiosity be explained through science? If so, does human DNA determine, or minimally, contribute to one's spirituality? Alternatively, what other influences contribute to an individual's religious inclinations? In my directed study, I aim to uncover the human motivations for leading a religious life, from a neuroscientific and cultural perspective.

It is my objective to gain a better understanding of the influences that impact human religious development, and thereby, a greater appreciation for my convictions and observance.

Spirituality can be an inherited predisposition, a genetic makeup that influences a person’s inclination towards religiosity. Studies of the religious attitude of genetically identical twins demonstrate the profound impact of science upon human spiritual development. Sir Francis Galton, a nineteenth-century British scientist, founded the method of twin research long before genes had even been discovered. He observed identical and fraternal twins and examined their development, health, and behavior. His observations of genetically identical twins would aid in the study of genetic inheritance; similarities between the twins can often be traced to their genes. Based on Galton’s method, an experiment was conducted in the University of Minnesota on genetically

1 identical twins that had been separated at birth and raised entirely apart. The twins were asked questions about their faith and religion, and the similar results seemed to indicate that genes made religion almost fifty percent heritable. This discovery of heritability as a factor of spirituality and religion supports the hypothesis that DNA has a direct effect on a person’s religion and spirituality. 1

These results were the catalyst for geneticist, Dean Hamer’s search for ‘GOd

Genes,’ specific genes that play key elements in spirituality and religion. The human

DNA is made up of approximately 35,000 genes, too many to attempt to locate a specific area or base change that can affect spirituality without a proper lead. In order to try to isolate a specific gene, or set of genes, to thoroughly research, scientists compare, measure, and analyze the DNA of people with different degrees of spirituality.2

A person’s level of spirituality is measured by a personality test. The

Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) Test, was developed by Robert Cloninger, an award winning psychiatrist and geneticist. The test measures different aspects of a person’s personality with questions targeting the more heritable traits, such as persistence and harm avoidance, and less heritable traits such as self- directedness and self- transcendence.3 In an effort to analyze the spirituality of their subjects, scientists compare the TCI tests focusing mainly on the self-transcendence scores. Cloninger defines self-transcendence as "acceptance, identification, or spiritual union with nature and its source." Using these different results, scientists are then able to rank people as being more or less spiritual and religious.

1 Hamer, Dean H. The God Gene: How Faith Is Hardwired into Our Genes. New York: Doubleday, 2004. 44. Print. 2 Hamer, Dean H. The God Gene: How Faith Is Hardwired into Our Genes. New York: Doubleday, 2004. 60. Print. 3 "What Is the Temperament and Character Inventory?" Department of Psychiatry Center for Well- Being. Washington University in St. Louis, n.d. Web.

2 Dean Hamer conducted an experiment that compared the self- transcendence scores of 1,001 people; 623 women and 378 men. Although the gender variation at first seems drastic, it did provide enough subjects of both genders to be studied. The group was also composed of a range of ethnicities, with 74% white, and the remaining 26% composed of Asian/Pacific Islanders, Hispanic/Latinos, African American, Native

American/ Alaskan, and others. The age of the subjects also ranged from eighteen to eighty-three years old, with a thirty-two year old average. All of these people differed in their upbringings, education, and income, creating a balanced group of test subjects. 4

Although Hamer had a sufficient group of people to evaluate, he needed a lead on which genes to compare between the people based on their test results. His first lead came from pharmacology, from drugs that affect the state of mind of a person, often inducing mystical and religious hallucinations, altering the self- transcendence of a person. These drugs affect brain chemicals, monoamines, including serotonin and dopamine.5 Serotonin was discovered by scientists in 1948 from blood serums and brain extracts. It is a neurotransmitter that deals with the mood, emotions, sorting chains of events, and coping with adversity; disturbances in its measurements can lead to anxiety, depression, and panic attacks. Since serotonin deals with the balance of these emotions, it has become a main target for many antidepressant medications, such as Prozac and

Zoloft. Because of its close link to mood and perception, it is also a common target for drugs, especially lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), a psychedelic drug that alters the thinking process and sense of time, often inducing hallucinations and spiritual

4 Hamer, Dean H. The God Gene: How Faith Is Hardwired into Our Genes. New York: Doubleday, 2004. 63. Print. 5 Hamer, Dean H. The God Gene: How Faith Is Hardwired into Our Genes. New York: Doubleday, 2004. 65. Print.

3 experiences.6 The key role serotonin plays in human perception and sense of space pinpoints it as a promising candidate in the search for a ‘God gene.’ Similarly, dopamine is another monoamine that is also a target for research into the ‘God Gene.’ Dopamine is a neuroendocrine transmitter (both a hormone and a neurotransmitter) that largely controls emotions, goal reaching, and reward-based thinking.7 All of these are factors that can affect a person’s spirituality, based on how much dopamine they have.

Hamer also relied heavily on the work of David Comings, who proposed that there is a set of seventeen genes that directly influence a person’s personality, especially self- transcendence. Of those seventeen genes, six of them were monoamines, further supporting Hamer’s idea that monoamines are the greatest indication of ‘God gene’.

Hamer then selected nine genes of monoamines to study in his experiment. Using the

Polymerase Chain Reaction, Hamer isolated and copied these genes from his subjects’

DNA, and compared their differences. 8

Although Hamer was faced with many setbacks as he concluded that his data was negative for certain genes he had researched, he did come across one gene called

VMAT2, which displayed promising data. VMAT2 is a gene that codes for a protein that was responsible for the packaging of all of the monoamines, responsible for all of the monoamines working smoothly together. This gene is located on chromosome ten, and contains a single base that could be either an A or a C. This single base mutation was compared to the different test scores, and those with the C base in either one or both alleles of the gene displayed a higher level of spirituality on the TCI test. In order to 6 Angier, Natalie. "Job Description Grows For Our Utility Hormone." The New York Times. The New York Times, 02 May 2011. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. 7 Angier, Natalie. "Job Description Grows For Our Utility Hormone." The New York Times. The New York Times, 02 May 2011. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. 8 Hamer, Dean H. The God Gene: How Faith Is Hardwired into Our Genes. New York: Doubleday, 2004. 67. Print.

4 affirm the discovery, Hamer compared the 106 sets of siblings that had different bases, one sibling with an A in both gene alleles and one with either one or two C’s. He found that even in siblings, who are very genetically similar, the single base change still affected the spirituality level as expected, ensuring that the base change is what affects the spirituality differences, rather than any racial differences. Although the discovery of the VMAT2 gene does display statistical data towards its effects on spirituality, it is not the only gene. While the twin studies have shown that almost fifty percent of self- transcendence is inheritable, the VMAT2 gene is only shown to raise the self- transcendence score on the TCI test by one point, accounting for roughly seven percent of the fifty estimated; proportionately, there must be more genes related to spirituality that have not yet been discovered. 9

According to the TCI tests, in addition to one’s genes, the remaining 50% that affects one’s religiosity is nurture, the upbringing of the person and his living environment. Many of the identical twins researched were raised completely separate, in different states, households, and religious backgrounds. This demonstrates that although it is possible for genes and biology to play some role in a person’s spirituality, it does not account for all of it, and surrounding factors have to be taken into account as well.

The brain structure is also believed to be directly linked to religion and spirituality, since it is the hub of all cognitive and emotional functions of the human body. Much research has been done on people in spiritual states through brain scans. In an effort to understand how these brain scans demonstrate a correlation of religion and spirituality with the neural system, it is first necessary to understand the major 9 Hamer, Dean H. The God Gene: How Faith Is Hardwired into Our Genes. New York: Doubleday, 2004. 67. Print.

5 functions of each area of the brain. The brain is divided into three main sections, the forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain. The forebrain is made up of two main areas, the telencephalon and the diencephalon. The telencephalon consists of both of the cerebral hemispheres and the diencephalon consists of the thalamus, hypothalamus, epithalamus, and subthalamus. The cerebral hemisphere is made up of the cerebral cortex, which is divided into four main lobes: the frontal, parietal, occipital, and temporal lobes. 10 Components of both the telencephalon and diencephalon are related to spirituality and religion and will be discussed later in the paper.

The term for the correlation of the neural system and religion and spirituality is neurotheology, and is believed to have been coined by the author, Aldous Huxley, in his utopian novel Island in the 1960’s. It is a relatively new concept that blends both fields of science and theology and has been primarily developed by the American neuroscientist, Andrew B. Newberg. Newberg has conducted many experiments on the relation of brain function to many mental states, primarily religious and spiritual ones, and has written multiple books on his findings. 11

Newberg introduces a fascinating approach to neurotheology, as he claims that engaging in religious and/or spiritual experiences and thoughts can actually induce changes within the brain. He begins with presenting a brain scan of a nun’s parietal lobe while at rest and while in a form of prayer. The scan displayed a higher activity in the region while in the resting stage, and a decrease in activity while in the prayer stage. To understand how these activity changes relate to spirituality, certain functions of the parietal lobe must first be understood. The parietal lobe is one of the four main lobes of

10 The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. "Brain (anatomy)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2014. 11 "About." Andrew Newberg. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2014. .

6 the cerebral cortex and is responsible for a human’s understanding of self in relation to space, time, and surrounding objects. It is the source of the perception as being an existential human. This sense of existence also enables the mind to perceive God as a detached concept separate from ourselves. The decrease in the parietal activity while the nun was praying, engaging in a religious activity, enabled the nun to feel at one with

God; thus diverting the focus on the individual self and instead merging the sense of self with the object of focus during the activity. Newberg also found that people that are frequent meditators develop a higher parietal lobe activity while not in meditation, thereby, enabling them to feel a stronger sense of self.

Changes in the anterior cingulate cortex also occur during deep prayer or spiritual meditation. The anterior cingulate cortex is a part of the brain that is related to cognitive and emotional abilities; the section that accords for cognitive functions is connected to the frontal lobe, and the section that accords for more emotional abilities is connected to the limbic system, which is located in between the forebrain and midbrain.

It plays a large role in social awareness and aids in sensitivity towards feelings. Less stimulation in the area causes insensitivity, but any form of contemplation strengthens its abilities. Religious activities which focus on contemplation of God strengthen the area and enable the person to be more empathetic towards other peoples’ feelings.

When a person takes a fear-based approach to God and religion, the activity in the anterior cingulate cortex decreases due to the increased activity in the amygdala, where fear is processed. This fear-based approach can actually induce anxiety, neuroticism, and a reduced ability to feel compassion towards other people and even God.12

12 "About." Andrew Newberg. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2014. .

7 Even though the changes in a person’s brain resulting from religious activity can account for further religious involvement, these changes must be started by a different factor. There are various different types of elements that contribute to a person’s religious practices, such as upbringing, environment, and personality tendencies. These affect the different religions and practices a person will gravitate towards and engage in, and depending on the method he chooses, will affect his brain in many different ways.

Sociobiology is an additional branch of science that also probes the link between human biology and religion. Sociobiology is the study of the biological aspects of social behavior in humans and animals. E.O. Wilson, a renowned sociobiologist, researched the biology of human evolution and its effects on religion. Wilson describes religion as completely unique to the human, no other biological being displays religious evolution with intention. He also believes that the genetic motivation to practice religion is hidden from a person’s mind because it is the act of subordinating oneself to a larger group. The uniqueness of religion within the human species, Wilson explains, can be explained by the evolutionary biological process of natural selection. He describes natural selection in terms of religion as ecclesiastic selection; religious leaders instituting certain rituals and transmitting them through culture. The variation of religions is not due to genetics, but rather to cultural practices and learning. If the particular religion increases warfare, environmental destruction, or population fluctuation, the religion will decline by itself.

It is here that Wilson connects the religious natural selection to the biological natural selection of the human. He explains that the human genome is responsible for either the learning of or rejection of certain behaviors through its control over the nervous, sensory, and hormonal systems. The religious practice that enhances survival will be favored by the biological natural selection of humans, and thus favor the genetics of the

8 follower. The anthropologist, Roy A. Rappaport, explains that primitive religious ceremonies and gatherings would converge many families and tribes to a central location, at which they could share information regarding their survival. In this way the genes are continuously passed down; the ones that allow a person to better practice the sustaining religion persists, passing down the inheritable genes that gravitate towards the religion.13 The sociobiology of religion demonstrates the natural element of human biological development that favors religion as an extension of Darwinism and a form of natural selection.

One of the ever changing and dynamic effects of evolution is culture. Culture has very strong effects on a person’s choice of a religious faith and involvement in religious institutions. Culture is often described as a set of shared values, which set the foundation for different social behaviors. Culture is a unifying force, gathering people together. Geertz defines culture as “an historically transmitted pattern of meaning embodied in symbols, a system of inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic forms by means of which men [sic] communicate, perpetuate, and develop their knowledge about and attitudes toward life.” There also exists subculture; smaller groups of cultural differences within a broader cultural group, such as languages, history, and religion. The individual’s sense of self is rooted in the culture or subculture which he prioritizes, often the religious aspect. One’s need to religiously belong often depends on the diversity of the cultural group. The more conscious a person is in relation to his culture, the more willingly he will conform to its norms, often conforming to its religion.14

13 Wilson, Edward O. "Religion." On Human Nature. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1978. 170-84. Print. 14 Olson, Laura R. "The Essentiality Of 'Culture' In The Study Of Religion And Politics." Journal For The Scientific Study Of Religion 50.4 (2011): 639-653. Academic Search Premier. Web. 19 June 2014.

9 Upbringing and familial influences are additional factors in the religiosity level of an individual. According to Thomas Cornwall, religion actually encourages family-like behavior and discourages anti-family behavior. Religious involvement of a family and its effect on the child can be demonstrated by the foster care system. When child placement is being permanently addressed, the cultural and religious background of the adoptive family is taken into account by the child welfare workers. Workers diligently search for households that have similar cultural backgrounds and institute the same religion, if any, as the foster child. The similarity in culture and religion is necessary for the child to maintain his original lifestyle. However, in hasty placement decisions, such as in cases in which a child must be placed in a foster home quickly due to parental death or sickness, little attention is paid to the cultural or religious background of the foster home. often leading to the child adopting a different religion in his new environment than the one he, or his parents, previously had practiced. 15

Stephen Hart researched family changes and their effect on the religion of the household and argued that both families and religious institutions aim to provide values, morals, a sense of meaning to their lives, and support to their members. Thus, religion and family life is fundamentally connected, although not always static. Shifts in the family atmosphere can also cause shifts in religious life as well. Hart’s assessment of major marital and household changes among Americans between 1960-1983 motivated him to analyze the implications of such changes in relation to the religiosity of the family and children. Based on American census data, Hart found that the numbers of single

15 Schatz, Mona Struhsaker, and Charles Horejsi. "The Importance Of Religious Tolerance: A Module For Educating Foster Parents." Child Welfare 75.1 (1996): 73-86. Academic Search Premier. Web. 19 June 2014.

10 parent households and the number of couples who decided not to have children increased.

American sociobiologist, Charles Glock hypothesized that the ‘traditional’ families are those that are more connected to a religious congregation, however his observations displayed the opposite. People without children or individuals without spouses more often became part of a congregation than those of the ‘traditional’ families. The main factor that contributes to this surprising data is that these less structured households have more time to spend in religious services and tend to gravitate towards the congregation as a sort of foster family. Using Glock’s findings,

Hart concluded that these census changes have both positive and negative effects on the practice of religion. Hart uses Christianity as an example of a religion that mandates family life but also supports individuality. He argues that the steady decline of the

‘traditional’ can have reverse effects on the practice of religion. The open-endedness of these changes in family patterns pose an ambiguity in the question of shifting family dynamics and its effect on the practice of religion. In order to further study these effects,

Hart cites the experiment performed by the Lutheran Listening Post which collects data from members of the Lutheran Church in America using a survey method. A main focal point of the questionnaire asked to identify family dynamics of members of their congregation. From this data,16 it seems that married women joining the workforce has

16 Hart, Stephen. "Religion And Changes In Family Patterns." Review Of Religious Research 28.1 (1986): 51-70. Academic Search Premier. Web. 19 June 2014: [Ninety percent said that they believed there were more working married women, thirty nine percent said there were more couples without children, fifty five percent said that there were more children being raised by single parents, twenty nine percent said that there were more unmarried individuals, sixty percent said that there were more divorces, thirty nine percent said that there were more unmarried couples living together, and thirty seven percent said that there were more couples who had their first child after the age of thirty. They were then asked to describe the effects, if any, of these changes; these changes were either marked as having a positive, negative, or neutral effect on the religiosity of the members. Half of the percentage of positive effects the members believe these

11 both a positive and negative effect, while households with divorced couples have more negative effects on their practice of religion. These findings display the multifaceted effects modern changes in family patterns have on religion.17 While there is no solid conclusion as to whether these effects are completely positive or negative, it is evident that they contribute in some way to the practice of religion. Thus, shifting family dynamics are definitely a large factor in the religiosity of an individual, and based on their family circumstances, they may be swayed towards or away from religion.

By evaluating both the effects of culture and family dynamics on religion, it is clear that the upbringing in certain environments and the nurturing aspect of family play a great role in one’s religiosity. Although this hypothesis may at first appear to contradict the natural scientific studies performed by scientists on the effects of human biology and physiology on religion, they can co-exist. Matt Bradshaw of the University of

North Carolina explains how the Nature versus Nurture debate is over, and how there actually is no winning side.

Matt Bradshaw does not refute any nature or nurture theories and their relationship towards the religiosity of individuals, rather he aims to highlight the problem of the need for a solid differentiation between and preference over the two.

Bradshaw refutes the ‘versus’ element in the debate of nature versus nurture. He believes that the research done solely on nature or nurture are inadequate to completely rely on one theory over the other. He believes that recent advances in biological and

changes have come from women joining the workforce, and thirteen percent came from unmarried couples, childless couples, and divorces respectively. Married women joining the workforce also constituted for half of the negative effects of these changes, twenty five percent from divorces, and nine percent from single parenting. The rest of the changes were not mentioned as much as the others, but also received both negative and positive viewpoints]. 17 Hart, Stephen. "Religion And Changes In Family Patterns." Review Of Religious Research 28.1 (1986): 51-70. Academic Search Premier. Web. 19 June 2014.

12 environmental studies actually serve as evidence for the “ubiquitous partial heritability thesis”. This thesis explains that all measures of the biological and environmental studies conducted are actually products of each other. He quotes Lewontin, who argued that all living things are actually the products of “unique interaction between the genes they carry, the temporal sequence of external environments through which they pass during life, and random events.” Thus, there is a very significant connection between biological makeup and environmental aspects and there should be no ‘versus’ between them because they are mutually dependent. Bradshaw explains that while the biological research conducted is valid it would not be wise to depend on it completely. He quotes

Andrew Newberg’s neuroscientific work and genetic research conducted on family members in order to support his argument. The brain activity that has been monitored is just a projection of how the brain functions during religious experiences and the genetic theories only had a moderate outcome on the religiosity of individuals; both do not constitute enough for religiosity that they would be completely valid. Additionally,

Bradshaw explains how the environmental research is inadequate to be solely relied on because it is so closely linked to biological influences. He argues that much of the family research conducted on upbringing and household dynamics also relies on the connected genetics of the family. Just as the environment can play a great role in the religiosity of an individual, the individual's reaction to his environment is biologically determined by his hormonal balance and genetic makeup. To support the relationship between these two factors, Bradshaw brings in models of biology-environment interplay. One of these models is the gene-environment correlation model which consists of three main parts: passive, evocative, and active. The passive aspect of it is the environment given to individuals by genetic relatives. Usually, this refers to the connection between parent to

13 child; if the religiosity is partially heritable, then the child will tend to be slightly more genetically religious and be brought up in a religious environment of his parents. The evocative aspect refers to the genetic predisposition of certain personalities which may evoke different responses from other religious individuals. Based on these responses, an individual may be more or less inclined towards the practice of religion. The active aspect of this correlation is the “niche picking”, the choosing of certain environments, by individuals based on their genetically predisposed personalities. One might gravitate more towards a religion if they are emotionally and personality-related seeking a structurally sound system, or the social interaction attributed to it. Evidently, both effects of nature and nurture contribute to religion, and therefore, they should be incorporated as one theory instead of two separate ideas.18

A common misconception held by religious individuals is that the very essence of biological research in relation to religion undermines exactly what is being researched; that the research contradicts religious theories. In an effort to dispel such a misconception, Gregory R. Peterson analyzes biological research conducted in relation to religion and explains how it is not a conflicting matter. The neuroscientific study of religion is believed by many people to undermine religious experiences and discredit religion by holding the brain responsible for religiosity. However, Peterson explains that although the brain might show some different changes while undergoing a religious experience, it does not explain any of the content of the religious experience, rather just that something different is occurring. This representation of something different than the usual occurring inside the brain during a religious experience can support the

18 Bradshaw, Matt, and Christopher G. Ellison. "The Nature-Nurture Debate Is Over, And Both Sides Lost! Implications For Understanding Gender Differences In Religiosity." Journal For The Scientific Study Of Religion 48.2 (2009): 241-251.Academic Search Premier. Web. 19 June 2014.

14 legitimacy of such an experience, and physically demonstrate that a certain experience other than the usual was taking place. Another common argument deals with religion and morality. It is a common religious belief that religion is the origin of morality.

Religious individuals find it hard to believe that morality is actually a biological product, and that religion is irrelevant to morality. Peterson uses Wilson’s study on the evolutionary biology of religion to explain how even if there are biological determining factors to an individual’s religiosity, they do not conflict with religious morality. Rather, these biological factors support a religious tendency to gather people of similar beliefs, and together they develop and share their beliefs on morality, but the biological factors do not completely constitute morality. By trying to rationalize these studies into religion,

Peterson tries to explain that these theories can actually be incorporated into peoples’ religious beliefs and fundamentally serve to enhance religion.19

James Fowler incorporates this biological and environmental study of religion into his theory of stages of faith development. He explains the progression of faith through a that spans the important physical and emotional maturation into an adulthood. He describes the first stage, the intuitive-projective stage, as one which preschool aged children often mix up reality and fantasy, but they do pick up ideas about God from their surrounding environment and parents. 20This highlights the biological relationship towards religion, the crucial development of the brain to fully understand and practice religion, but it also displays how children are still able to be influenced by their surroundings. The third stage, the synthetic conventional-stage,

19 Peterson, Gregory R. "Are Evolutionary/Cognitive Theories Of Religion Relevant For Philosophy Of Religion?." Zygon: Journal Of Religion & Science 45.3 (2010): 545-557. Academic Search Premier. Web. 19 June 2014. 20 "James Fowler's Stages." James Fowler's Stages. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2014. .

15 relates towards teenagers who mature to include many different social groups, and their need to form a cohesive structured environment often leads them to develop some sort of belief system.21 This can relate to Bradshaw’s idea that depending on an individual’s predisposed social personality, they might gravitate towards certain beliefs systems, this is the active aspect of gene-environment interplay. The different hormone levels teenagers produce may also be linked to the sudden need to develop a belief system, such as Hamer evaluated as being linked to religious experiences. The fifth stage, the conjunctive faith stage, is usually approached during midlife, and it is when an individual comes to realize the limits of logic and knowledge. The individual then often returns to religion if he had strayed from it.22 This stage could be induced by the brain’s limitations of knowledge and logic in relation to the surrounding environments, which ultimately incorporates both biology and the environment into one stage. By this stage the brain is fully functioning and developed, able to comprehend religious beliefs that genetics might cause an individual to gravitate more towards, while the environmental circumstances remind the individual of his need of a religious belief system.

Vast research has demonstrated that science, as well as cultural and environmental influences motivate religious attitudes. Neuroscientists have proven how genes affect spirituality. Similarly, sociobiologists have shown the impact that familial upbringing and other external factors have on one's religiosity. Both nature and nurture can explain why some individuals gravitate more towards a spiritual life than others. As research advancements continue in the field of neurotheology, major progress is being

21 "James Fowler's Stages." James Fowler's Stages. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2014. . 22 "James Fowler's Stages." James Fowler's Stages. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2014. .

16 made in the integration of science and religion, enhancing our understanding of both our brain and our faith.