Religion and Spirituality in Psychiatry

Religion/Spirituality and Neuropsychiatry 61DRD4CYP2C19Higher Dopaminelevels in the frontallobeAP-2β5-HTTLPRHigher levels of 5-HT in the brain5-HT1A and other5-HTHormones level,ethnicity, age,parental care,rearingenvironment…Higher concentration of Dopamine receptor(DRD4)Lower density of 5HT1A receptors and other5HT receptorsHyper-activity of DA systemHyper-activity of 5-HT systemDrugs: LSD,cannabis,cocaine,amphetamines…SpiritualityMeditation and religious practicesActivation of frontal, temporal and limbic systemsFigure 5.1. Serotoninergic and dopaminergic systems in spirituality and religious practices.high sense of spirituality but also during religiousactivities such as meditation. It can be speculatedthat, during the development of the midbrainneurotransmitter systems, early geneticallydriven modulation of the 5-HT and dopaminesystems participate in the formation of spiritualityin adults. We can now try to draw a biologicalpicture of spirituality and religious practices( Figure 5.1 ). In this model, individuals carryingparticular genetic polymorphisms within 5-HTT,DRD4, CYP2C19, 5-HT1A, 5-HT2A, 5-HT6,and AP-2B genes (either directly or interactingtogether) will have, through different pathways, arelatively higher level of 5-HT and dopamine inspecific areas of their brain. As a secondary sideeffect, this will enhance the sense of spiritualityin individuals and possibly religious practices.To be complete, this model should also includeenvironmental factors modifying either geneexpression or 5-HT and dopamine levels.These hypotheses are only speculations basedon limited research. The reality of spiritualexperiences and individual beliefs is far morecomplex than this simple model. Our purposewas only to review current knowledge onthe biology of spiritual experiences. “God onlyknows” if one day we will be able to explain allour thoughts and feelings by neurobiology.REFERENCES1 . B a u d P , C o u r t e t P , Pe r r o u d N , Jo l l a n t F , B u r e s i C ,Malafosse A . Catechol- O -methyltransferasepolymorphism (COMT) in suicide attempters:a possible gender effect on anger traits .Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet .2007 ; 144 (8): 1042 –1047.2. Ne w b erg A , A l av i A , B ai me M , Pou rdehnadM , S ant anna J , d’Aqu i l i E . The measurement ofregional cerebral blood flow during the complexcognitive task of meditation: a preliminary SPECTstudy . Psychiatry Res . 2001 ; 106 (2): 113 –122.3. Ne w b erg A , Pou rdehnad M , A l av i A , d’Aqu i l i E G .Cerebral blood flow during meditative prayer:preliminary findings and methodological issues .Percept Mot Skills . 2003 ; 97 (2): 625 –630.4. Ne w b erg AB , Ivers en J . The neural basis of thecomplex mental task of meditation: neurotrans-