An interesting article.The devil is in the details however.

There were two areas of the brain(left inferior parietal lobe and right angular gyrus) that when damaged, were reported to be associated with increases in "spirituality".

Here is where the questions should start:                                                     What did the authors mean by "spirituality"? Turns out, they defined it as "an increase in feelings of self-transcendence". How was the increase in "self transcendence" measured? By answering a series of true-false questions regarding changes in feeling around what are felt to be the 3 main components of "self trancedence": 1. losing yourself in the moment   2. feeling connected to other people and nature 3. believing in a higher power

But the tool used (true/false questionnaire) is not further defined, or whether it is a tool that has been validated as a reliable measure for "self transcedence". What is self transcedence and are the above noted "3 main components" the correct attributes to measure regarding a change in "self transcendence"?

Definitions please! 2 hours later ...... I cannot find any reference that cites there are "3 main components" which define "self transcendence" but these were then used as the focal points of identifying increased feelings of self transcendence, which was then interpreted as an increase in spirituality.

 I take exception to one of the measurement questions cited as indicative of increased self transcendence: "that I get lost in the moment-like I'm detached from time and place.." However, the article notes "these areas at the back of the brain are involved in how we perceive our bodies in spatial relation to the external world", so I am not surprised that a patient with damage in that area might report increased sensations of "detached from time and place"

I have a number of other concerns regarding this "scientific study" (not very) but the above should do as a start.

  Please keep in mind, depending on which definition of "self transcendence" that you select out of the many offerings on the internet, it may or may not require developing a belief in a God-like power. In which case brain damage with an increased sense of "self transcendence" would turn out to be a non issue regarding your concerns that you would become vulnerable to being convinced of a belief in God. Don't you feel better now?

My journey through the internet trying to get clarity on just what a number of terms are commonly understood to mean (spirit, spiritual, spirituality, self transcendence..) made it very clear that there is not a lot of consensus. This creates a major challenge when trying to have a discussion or debate over say spirituality with no common definition/conceptual framework as a basis. 

As an example, a discussion over the merits of "fruit" but you are thinking of limes and I am thinking apricots as what the meaning of fruit is. Enough of stating the obvious.

I did come across a couple of interesting posts regarding this particular story that I thought are worthwhile reads. The links are below.

I think this is an interesting site you all have. Look forward to reading some more of your opinions.

(this is the best one)http://neurowhoa.blogspot.

com/2010/03/what-is-self-transcendence.html

(this one is ok)http://personalityspirituality.

net/2010/02/11/self-transcendence

-and-the-brain-new-research-old-fallacy/