from a scientific perspective

[Seminarysnoozer]

I recommend you read Time Magazine of October 25, 2004, in which the lead article was titled The God Gene.

Religion: Is God in Our Genes? - TIME

The article describes a number of bona fide scientific experiments aimed at answering the question you have raised. They identify a specific gene which they believe is responsible for generating the chemicals in the brain that produce the feeling that we label as spirituality.

A google search on the phrase "god gene" wil turn up many more leads that you might find interesting. I also recommend a google search using the combined terms spirituality brain scan and also neurotheology.

There has been an abundance of reported reliable research in recent years exploring the notion that recordable and measurable physiological changes take place in the brain while a person is engaged in, or undergoing, a religious activity.

There was a well known study done, I think in 2004, in which brain scans were performed on Carmelite nuns while they reflected on the memory of an intense spiritual experience. You can read about the report here Nuns prove God is not figment of the mind - Telegraph

There is also a wikipedia article for the god gene. Following are a few sentences from that article:

The God gene hypothesis is based on a combination of behavioral genetic, neurobiological and psychological studies. The major arguments of the theory are: (1) spirituality can be quantified by psychometric measurements; (2) the underlying tendency to spirituality is partially heritable; (3) part of this heritability can be attributed to the gene VMAT2;[1] (4) this gene acts by altering monoamine levels; and (5) spirituality arises in a population because spiritual individuals are favored by natural selection.

The articles discusses both the idea of a god gene and the opposing views and contains several references.

Hope this helps, I'll be very interested to read your response.

That gene likely just helps in ones ability to work through abstract thought processes and attach emotional significance to memories. Any subject that is abstract in nature would likely be better understood by those that have that gene. Monoamines like Norepinephrine and Serotonin are involved in prefrontal lobe to deeper nuclei communication and back. In other words, the spontaneous, "what-if" part of the brain can communicate more readily with emotional connections in the hypothalamus. That isn't just a religious or "spiritual" trait. We've known about this for a long time because of diseases like Parkinsonism and Alzheimers that can result in pseudobulbar affect, or labile affect (they start crying or have an emotional outburst for no apparent reason). The treatment for those problems are medications that increase serotonin such as antidepressants or increase monoamines in general like amphetamine based medications like ritalin or a new one called Neudexta.