The connection between religion and neuropsychological processes in the human brain
March 10, 2017 at 4:06 pm
Is this the least flash, least click-baity thread title? Yes.
Neurological Link Between Epilepsy and Religious Experiences
Future research is already planned, but it seems that this indicates that deep spiritual experiences are indeed just a product of the brain. Some people have brains more likely to have those experiences, and some people don't.
For me, this completely destroys the notion that we chose to believe or not. It seems we come pre-wired one way or the other (I'm sure environmental factors still play a part).
Neurological Link Between Epilepsy and Religious Experiences
Quote:“Past research has indicated that humans might have a distinctive neurological tendency toward being spiritually oriented,” said Brick Johnstone, a neuropsychologist and professor of health psychology. “This research supports the notion that the human propensity for religious or spiritual experiences may be neurologically based.”
Quote:“We found a strong correlation between philosophical religious thoughts and epilepsy, but no correlation between emotional thinking and epilepsy,” said Greyson Holliday, co-author and MU undergraduate student studying psychology. “This study suggests that people may have natural neurological predispositions to think about religion but not in a way that is necessarily associated with emotion.”
Future research is already planned, but it seems that this indicates that deep spiritual experiences are indeed just a product of the brain. Some people have brains more likely to have those experiences, and some people don't.
For me, this completely destroys the notion that we chose to believe or not. It seems we come pre-wired one way or the other (I'm sure environmental factors still play a part).
“Eternity is a terrible thought. I mean, where's it going to end?”
― Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
― Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
