Coast to Coast AM Jun 02 2008-zug - Spirituality and Science

Appearing during the middle two hours, Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Dr. George Vaillant discussed his work on the scientific effects of positive emotions, as well as his new book Spiritual Evolution. Humankind\'s sense of spirituality is genetically wired in and has evolved over time for its survival value, he detailed. There is more empathy in our genes than what we learn in Sunday school training, he commented.

It has only been in the last 15 years that science has been able to measure specific emotions in the brain, showing how different parts of the brain light up, such as in the limbic system. For instance, he noted that when subjects were given money to donate to their favorite charity, the same part of their brains always lit up.

The last hour featured Open Lines, with callers sharing their stories of faith.