Science: Social_Sciences: Psychology: Psychology_and

Science: Social_Sciences: Psychology: Psychology_and_Religion: Neurotheology

People (9)

See also:

BBC - Science & Nature - Horizon - God on the Brain
Is a part of our brains hardwired to generate religious feelings? Program summary for a BBC neurotheology special.

The Evolution of Wonder: Religious and Neuroscientific Perspect
Paper by Kelly Bulkeley discussing the phenomenon of wonder.

Evolutionary Neurotheology and the Varieties of Religious Experience
Article by Bruce McLennan of University of Tennessee, outlining a neuropsychological approach to religious experience based on archetypal psychology. [PDF]

The God Gene
Carl Zimmer critically reviews Dean Hamer's book "The God Gene: How Faith Is Hard-wired Into Our Genes".

The "God" Part Of The Brain
Website for Matthew Alper's book which suggests that "humans are innately hard-wired to perceive a spiritual reality".

How the Brain Creates God
Broad-ranging overview by Iona Miller, touching on archetypes, NDEs, drugs, trances, TMS, and shamanism.

Meridian Magazine :: Neurotheology
BYU scholars give a brief overview of neurotheology, and ponder the neurological basis of Joseph Smith's revelations.

A Mystical Union
Economist article giving overview of recent research in neurotheology.

Neurological Correlates of Transformational Experiences
Article building on work of Persinger and d'Aquili, looking at near-death experiences with neuroimaging.

Neurology of Spiritual Experiences
Articles on spiritual experience and magnetic signal brain stimulation by one of Michael Persinger's students.

Neurotheology on Wikipedia
A brief but balanced overview of the field.

Numenware, a blog about neurotheology
Frequently updated blog about neurotheology. Also covers some general neuroscience, Dogen, language, and Japan topics.

On the Neuropsychology of Religious Experiences
Review of literature on neuropsychology of religious experiences, including temporal lobe model, D'Aquili's model for meditative states, and substance-induced religious experience.

The Physical and Psychological Effects of Meditation
Online portions of a book by the same name, reviewing scientific studies, discussing behavioral effects, and giving subjective reports. Searchable bibliography on meditation research.

Physiology of meditation
Article covering meditation and its relationship to the metabolism, autonomic nervous system, endocrine system, and central nervous system.

Probing Neurotheology's Brain, or Critiquing and Emerging Quasi-Science
Overview of the "Reductionist" and "Religionist" schools within the neurotheology field, by Jonathon Scott Feit, University Professors at BU. [PDF]

Transcendental Meditation Scientific Research
Bibliography of hundreds of scientific studies on the effects of Transcendental Meditation, including improved brain functioning.

Wired for the Ultimate Reality: The Neuropsychology of Religious Experience
Article by Drs. Andrew Newberg and Eugene D'Aquili on the biological mechanisms underlying religious and spiritual experience, from the PBS "The Question of God" series.

Zen and the Brain
Summary of "Zen and the Brain", James H. Austin's definitive work tracing the neuroscientific aspects of Zen.

Ghosts in a machine
Overview article from Times Online, dicussing Persinger, Blanke, Newberg. (March 5, 2005)

Guardian Unlimited | Life | Tests of faith
Article discussing evolutionary, anthropological (Boyer), and neuroscientific (Ramachandran, Newberg) aspects of religion. (February 4, 2005)

Body and Mind
Materials accompanying a TV special on body and mind, with an brief overview of older theories and notable neurotheology research. (February 1, 2005)

Linking Out-of-Body Experience and Self Processing to Mental Own-Body Imagery at the Temporoparietal Junction
Paper by Olaf Blanke and team on the neurocognitive bases of out-of-body (OBE) experiences, from Journal of Neuroscience. (January 19, 2005)

Doubt cast on theory that magnetic fields spark religious feelings
Swedish researchers conduct a double-blind study said to debunk Persinger's theories of magnetic stimulation causing religious experiences, as reported in Nature. (December 9, 2004)

Study asks whether chemicals and communion are one
Article from "Science and Theology News" describing the neuroimaging of praying nuns performed by University of Montreal researcher Mario Beauregard. (October 11, 2004)

Meditation and the Brain
Report on a conference held by MIT's McGovern Institute for Brain Research, bringing together Buddhists and neuroscientists. (February 1, 2004)

Religiosity is associated with hippocampal but not amygdala volumes in patients with refractory epilepsy -- Wuerfel et al. 75 (4): 640 -- Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry
Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry article finding that epilepsy patients with high religiosity had smaller right hippocampi. (June 6, 2003)

What Buddhists Know About Science
Wired article on relationship between Tibetan meditation and the brain. (July 22, 2002)

Are We Hardwired for God?
The Guardian newspaper's review of Pascal Boyer's book "Religion Explained". (February 7, 2002)

Tracing the Synapses of Our Spirituality
Washington Post article by Shankar Vedantam on researchers examining the relationship between brain and religion. (June 17, 2001)

Neurotheology & Shamanism
Dr. Michael Winkelman, Anthropology Professor at Arizona State and author of "Shamanism: The Neural Economy of Consciousness", discusses the neurological basis of shamanism, mankind's oldest spiritual practice. (June 5, 2001)

Religion and the Brain.
Newsweek article that brought neurotheology widespread popular recognition. (May 7, 2001)

This Is Your Brain on God
Wired Magazine interview of Michael Persinger, leading figure in the reductionist school of neurotheology. (November 1, 1999)

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