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"If belief is caused by physical brain events and is therefore questionable, why is his atheism not subject to the same analysis?"

Go ahead and analyze but be logical about it. Logically, a lack of belief in something that cannot be proved, does not seem to be subject to a lot of analysis. I don't believe there are any naturally occurring blue kangaroos. To hold such an opinion would not seem to require a lot of analysis. If another person believed that blue kangaroos existed, which of us would you think a better subject for analysis?

You could argue atheism is grounded in a deduction of reality. The world does not seem to be governed by moral laws. Nature is red in tooth and claw. Human beings conveniently disregard moral norms when it serves their self-interest. The world is flawed and abounds in imperfections, the most visible of which is death. It could be further postulated that religion is a psychological defense mechanism designed to protect our fragible egos against the fact we don't control Nature - we are controlled by it. And death is the end of existence as we know it. That's the atheist's argument for non-belief for if there was a God, His world would at one remove be beautiful and perfect and all His created things would live forever, free of disease, pain and corruption.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

is atheism a lack of belief in God or the belief that God does not exist?
Dennet seems to believe that there is no God, which is a belief, not just the absence of a belief.
if he actually holds the belief that there is no God, his belief can be analyzed just as well as religious people's belief in God.