well this just isn't a fair fight

self-explanatory.

removal of brain tissue increases spirituality

via.

Oh hai. So, removing part of a person's brain increases their belief in God?

...

I have no jokes to insert here, because this story writes them all for you:

Ever suspected that religious people have a part of their brain missing? Well, here’s a new study that will let you take a cheap (and reasonably accurate) shot at the God-fearing…

No, the study was apparently legit, follow-up after tumor removal from various parts of the brain:

a team of researchers in Italy has found that damage to a specific region of the brain (the posterior parietal cortex) can increase a person’s feelings of “self-transcendence,” or the feeling of being connected to others and to the universe.

I leave you with this, an excellent article that posits an evolutionary basis for religion, followed by this:

this is weird...

...but also kinda cool.

This woman developed seizures late in life, and doctors discovered that a particular piece of her brain was responsible. So she had a lobectomy.

Yes, that means the removal of a lobe of her brain. In her case it was only -- ONLY -- a 'kiwi-sized part of her right temporal lobe.'

But the kicker is that she is an ultra-marathoner, and one of the side-effects of the lobectomy is that she loses her sense of temporal reality, of how long she has been running:

'Gerber, who works at Craig Hospital, a rehabilitation hospital in Englewood, Colo., for people with brain or spinal-cord injuries, said that Van Deren “can go hours and hours and have no idea how long it’s been.” Her mind carries little dread for how far she is from the finish. She does not track her pace, even in training. Her gauge is the sound of her feet on the trail.

“It’s a kinesthetic melody that she hits,” Gerber said. “And when she hits it, she knows she’s running well.”'

Ah. Now i have the secret of running. Get your knives out.

Read the article though; it's fascinating to think about what happens to a person when part of their 'operating system' if you will is carved out.