Soul & Brain - 4 September 2013
In previous Soul & Brain articles, some general statements were made to indicate our Brains are wired to seek a spiritual reality for the meaning of our existence. In going forward we will explore this aspect of the Human Brain by trying to understand the functions of our Brain especially as it pertains to people of spiritual faith and compare it those people that are non-believers.
Let’s start our journey at a starting point where most people can agree on. All of us have a Brain that we define as a biological structure in our heads. It consists of neurons, neurotransmitters and electrical connections form our sensory organs to the rest of the body. Thoughts, feelings, experiences, and consciousness are intangible qualities that we refer to as the “Mind” and somehow must be connected to the biological stuff of the Brain. Science has not been able to determine precisely how and where our thoughts originate or the internal workings of consciousness. Are thoughts and consciousness biological processes or something completely different? And if they are different, how do they communicate to the biological Brain?
The next step on our journey is to review some basic functions of the Brain starting with the Autonomic Nervous Systems which connects the Brain to the rest of the Body. It made up of two parts, Sympathetic Nervous System and Parasympathetic Nervous System.
See Picture at the top of this page.
Please observe the connections from the Spinal Cord/Vertebra Column to the different biological organs that need to be engaged to the commands of the two Nervous Systems. Example: the Sympathetic Nervous System turns up the heart rate when needed. The Parasympathetic Nervous System turns
down the heart rate during sleep.
The Sympathetic Nervous System performs like a “Turn on Switch” when we need to quickly react to something important or dangerous (example: trying to avoid a car accident). It is also referred to as the arousal or fight of flight system. As a result our Bodies consume energy during Sympathetic
Nervous System’s activities.
The Parasympathetic Nervous System performs like a “Turn off Switch” to rejuvenate and restore the energy of our Bodies. It calms us down when we are eating and trying to rest or sleep. Under ideal conditions, when the
Sympathetic Nervous System is active the Parasympathetic Nervous System is inhibited and vice versa.
Unfortunately in our stressful lives one System is not always active while the other is inhibited. Many times they are both active. Sometimes we cannot fall a sleep because of worries about problems that await us the next day or how many times do we eat and work at the same time. Both conditions are a
detriment to our health.
One exception to the rule of one Nervous System being active while the other one is inhibited are people that talk with God in prayer. They experience the alertness from the Sympathetic Nervous System and the blissful calmness from the Parasympathetic Nervous System during the same moments. Positive benefits flow from prayer that we will explore later in the Soul & Brain series of articles.
In the next chapter of “Soul & Brain” we will review the Brain’s Limbic system, the primary emotional controller and regulator of the Brain’s Autonomic Nervous Systems.
*********************************
Follow up to the Dr. Eban Alexander’s medical recovery story!
In previous Soul & Brain articles, I made references to Dr. Eban Alexander’s story presented in his book published in 2012 “Proof Of Heaven
- A Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Afterlife”. In recent media coverage, there has been a personal attack of Dr. Eban and his experience. I read and reviewed some of that criticism and did not find it credible to change my
viewpoint.
Some of the articles misquoted the attending physician’s statement who stated that as Dr. Eban came out of the Coma, and experienced consciousness, he could have experience hallucinations, became in the critics words, “Dr. Eban was conscious and hallucinating”. Because some of the source of the criticism came from people who harbor a disrespect and animosity toward religion and people of faith, I dismiss their views as very bias.
When I learned of Dr. Eban’s story, I employed my critical eye and questioned the accuracy and truthfulness of his account. But aware that in such experiences there cannot be certainty to outside observers, I accepted Dr.
Eban’s account on the following bases.
1) Experiences of God are very direct and personal to the individual and not verifiable or understood by others. When I shared some of my religious experiences with my non believing friends, they labeled them as just coincidences. But I and God know they are not coincidences.
2) Dr. Eban recovery was a Miracle aided my Medical Science. Many people undergoing similar medical procedures under similar illnesses do not make it and die. Many Miracles, usually medical, have occurred in past and present times. It’s a way to remind us of God’s presence.
3) Many others have had similar near death experiences to Dr. Eban’s. These experiences were usually discounted as hallucinations and their recovery as random luck by some in the medical and scientific communities. But the humble medical professionals and scientists are not quick to dismiss or pass judgments on these stories of miracle recoveries. They acknowledged there is lot that they do not know or have a scientific explanation to explain what happen.
4) Dr. Eban would risk personal and professional disgrace if his story was a
fabrication. I cannot imagine this person taking that risk.
It is still possible that I could be proven wrong about Dr. Eban’s story in the future. But for now, I trust this story to be true.
Let’s start our journey at a starting point where most people can agree on. All of us have a Brain that we define as a biological structure in our heads. It consists of neurons, neurotransmitters and electrical connections form our sensory organs to the rest of the body. Thoughts, feelings, experiences, and consciousness are intangible qualities that we refer to as the “Mind” and somehow must be connected to the biological stuff of the Brain. Science has not been able to determine precisely how and where our thoughts originate or the internal workings of consciousness. Are thoughts and consciousness biological processes or something completely different? And if they are different, how do they communicate to the biological Brain?
The next step on our journey is to review some basic functions of the Brain starting with the Autonomic Nervous Systems which connects the Brain to the rest of the Body. It made up of two parts, Sympathetic Nervous System and Parasympathetic Nervous System.
See Picture at the top of this page.
Please observe the connections from the Spinal Cord/Vertebra Column to the different biological organs that need to be engaged to the commands of the two Nervous Systems. Example: the Sympathetic Nervous System turns up the heart rate when needed. The Parasympathetic Nervous System turns
down the heart rate during sleep.
The Sympathetic Nervous System performs like a “Turn on Switch” when we need to quickly react to something important or dangerous (example: trying to avoid a car accident). It is also referred to as the arousal or fight of flight system. As a result our Bodies consume energy during Sympathetic
Nervous System’s activities.
The Parasympathetic Nervous System performs like a “Turn off Switch” to rejuvenate and restore the energy of our Bodies. It calms us down when we are eating and trying to rest or sleep. Under ideal conditions, when the
Sympathetic Nervous System is active the Parasympathetic Nervous System is inhibited and vice versa.
Unfortunately in our stressful lives one System is not always active while the other is inhibited. Many times they are both active. Sometimes we cannot fall a sleep because of worries about problems that await us the next day or how many times do we eat and work at the same time. Both conditions are a
detriment to our health.
One exception to the rule of one Nervous System being active while the other one is inhibited are people that talk with God in prayer. They experience the alertness from the Sympathetic Nervous System and the blissful calmness from the Parasympathetic Nervous System during the same moments. Positive benefits flow from prayer that we will explore later in the Soul & Brain series of articles.
In the next chapter of “Soul & Brain” we will review the Brain’s Limbic system, the primary emotional controller and regulator of the Brain’s Autonomic Nervous Systems.
*********************************
Follow up to the Dr. Eban Alexander’s medical recovery story!
In previous Soul & Brain articles, I made references to Dr. Eban Alexander’s story presented in his book published in 2012 “Proof Of Heaven
- A Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Afterlife”. In recent media coverage, there has been a personal attack of Dr. Eban and his experience. I read and reviewed some of that criticism and did not find it credible to change my
viewpoint.
Some of the articles misquoted the attending physician’s statement who stated that as Dr. Eban came out of the Coma, and experienced consciousness, he could have experience hallucinations, became in the critics words, “Dr. Eban was conscious and hallucinating”. Because some of the source of the criticism came from people who harbor a disrespect and animosity toward religion and people of faith, I dismiss their views as very bias.
When I learned of Dr. Eban’s story, I employed my critical eye and questioned the accuracy and truthfulness of his account. But aware that in such experiences there cannot be certainty to outside observers, I accepted Dr.
Eban’s account on the following bases.
1) Experiences of God are very direct and personal to the individual and not verifiable or understood by others. When I shared some of my religious experiences with my non believing friends, they labeled them as just coincidences. But I and God know they are not coincidences.
2) Dr. Eban recovery was a Miracle aided my Medical Science. Many people undergoing similar medical procedures under similar illnesses do not make it and die. Many Miracles, usually medical, have occurred in past and present times. It’s a way to remind us of God’s presence.
3) Many others have had similar near death experiences to Dr. Eban’s. These experiences were usually discounted as hallucinations and their recovery as random luck by some in the medical and scientific communities. But the humble medical professionals and scientists are not quick to dismiss or pass judgments on these stories of miracle recoveries. They acknowledged there is lot that they do not know or have a scientific explanation to explain what happen.
4) Dr. Eban would risk personal and professional disgrace if his story was a
fabrication. I cannot imagine this person taking that risk.
It is still possible that I could be proven wrong about Dr. Eban’s story in the future. But for now, I trust this story to be true.
