Toward a Neuropsychology of Spiritual Development in Adolescence

Adolescents’ brains undergo development that enables and is enabled by emerging capacities for transcendent thoughts and emotions. These newly emerging psychological capacities form the basis for age-appropriate spiritual development because they push youth to move beyond considering only concrete actions and perceptions to deal with the values and broader meaning that social situations invoke. The current article reviews evidence for brain development relevant to transcendent thought, and argues that the neural underpinnings of these capacities present a useful starting point for studying the possible neural basis of adolescent spiritual development. Reviewing evidence that adolescents grow their brains and selves by actively making meaning in and through supportive social relationships and deeper reflections, the article posits that developmentally appropriate spiritual thinking may also grow the adolescent brain. Situating spirituality at the intersection of biological and psychological homeostasis, the article argues for the interest and benefits of launching a theoretically grounded interdisciplinary research program investigating the neuropsychological basis of adolescent spirituality.