Healing the hardware of the Soul: How making the brain-soul connection can optimize your life, love, and spiritual growth
by Daniel G. Amen
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New York: Simon & Schuster/The Free Press 2002. 272 pp HB $25.00
I found this to be a peculiar book for several reasons. My first “startle” came from the focus by a psychiatrist on the physical brain as an index for emotional problems. Daniel Amen has a wealth of experience in ordering sophisticated SPECT scans of the brain. These provide 3-dimensional images of areas of the brain that are active at the time of the scan. Amen uses these to explain to people with psychological problems what parts of their brains are under- or over-active. He feels it is irresponsible to treat people for psychological problems without the aid of these tests.
Having identified the problems, Amen then suggests medications and/or various mental exercises that can correct the disorders he identifies. Much of what he suggests is in the realm of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
Amen presents a clear and readable discussion, excellently illustrated, on parts of the brain he has identified as showing abnormalities in association with various psychological problems.
My second “startle” came from Amen’s advocating spiritual awareness as an important aspect of psychiatric intervention. On closer scrutiny, it becomes clear that he views spirituality as being based on values of a humanistic nature. While I found no direct statement about this, he appears to view a belief in God as a cognitive belief, influenced by brain functions.
Amen observes:
Our spirituality is influenced by how the brain functions. It has been my experience that when the brain is healthy for people with religious beliefs, God is experienced as loving, compassionate, forgiving, and present. When these people struggle with brain problems, God is often perceived as angry, vengeful, controlling, rigid, judgmental, and distant. Brain physiology impacts our perception of the world, including our perception of God. (p. 26)
It will be most interesting to follow the research that comes out of these avenues of study, to see whether the brain activity Amen finds associated with negative spiritual beliefs is causal in producing these beliefs or the result of the beliefs. Both hypotheses are supported in research. That is, there are areas of the brain that determine perceptional and cognitive abilities on the one hand, and on the other hand there are structural changes in the brain that result from exercise of particular perceptual and cognitive functions.
My own opinion is that the brain is a transducer of spiritual awareness, much like a radio or TV set, making possible the communication of Spirit with and influences upon matter. A damaged receiver can make it difficult for Spirit to communicate to consciousness or for consciousness to be aware of Spirit. I believe further that physical life is an expression of spiritual development. This is consistent with research in spiritual dimensions, such as the NDE, reincarnation memories, channeled information and more (which I will shortly be publishing in Healing Research, Volume III).
Amen suggests a variety of ways, mostly in the realms of CBT, in which negative thinking can be shifted towards positive perceptions and beliefs about self and others. Among his approaches for releasing negativity, Amen recommends Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). In addition to finding this a powerful intervention for releasing lingering, troublesome residues of negative experiences (which is definitely the experience of this reviewer), he observes that EMDR produces observable changes in the brain.
EMDR calms the focal overactive areas of the brain. In PTSD, for example, we see a diamond pattern on SPECT, which is excessive activity in the anterior cingulate gyrus (top point of the diamond), basal ganglia (two side points of the diamond), and limbic-thalamus (bottom point of the diamond). This pattern fit nicely into the symptomatology of PTSD. People who have been traumatized and develop PTSD symptoms (such as flashbacks, nightmares, worries, quick startle, anxiety, depression, and avoidance) are frequently overly concerned and worried (anterior cingulate traits – get stuck), anxious and hyperalert (basal ganglia), and filter everything through negativity (limbic-thalamus). EMDR calms all of these areas on SPECT. (p. 191)
Those who feel supported by laboratory tests for clinical interventions will find this a ground-breaking, helpful book. Those who feel comfortable with clinical interventions based on careful history-taking, supplemented by personal observations and interpersonal interactions with clients, may find this book out of line with their beliefs and practices.
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