Well, kinda. The researchers supposedly found that one particular sort of brain damage sometimes makes people more "spiritual" in some sense. Brain damage can be causally linked to all sorts of things, including some things that occur naturally and are generally reckoned good things -- e.g., I think sometimes someone whose brain is damaged will develop musical talents they didn't have before -- so I think it would be premature to conclude that "spirituality" in general is the result of a malfunctioning brain.

(The idea of a link between "spirituality" and brain failure is quite old. For instance, it's been known for a long time that temporal lobe epilepsy is associated with some sorts of religious experience.)

Would it be considered "cruel and unusual punishment" to inflict brain surgery upon habitual violent criminals?

Almost sounds like something from the Soviet era, or earlier.