Frontiers in Psychology
September 29, 2021
José Manuel Rodríguez-arce, Michael James Winkelman
80 citations
Our hominin ancestors likely encountered and ingested psychedelic mushrooms throughout their evolutionary history, supported by evidence from early hominins' paleodiet, primate mycophagy and self-medication, and the biogeography of psilocybin-containing fungi. Psilocybin and similar psychedelics, targeting the serotonin 2A receptor, stimulate flexible cognition, alter emotional processing and social behavior, and may have provided adaptive advantages. Their incidental inclusion in the diet and later integration into rituals could have enhanced sociality, imagination, and suggestibility, aiding adaptation to a socio-cognitive niche. The model proposes four instrumentalization goals: managing distress, enhancing social interaction, facilitating collective rituals, and improving group decision-making, potentially favoring prosociality in human evolution.
European neuropsychopharmacology : the journal of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology
November 1, 2023
Michael James Winkelman, Attila Szabo, Ede Frecska
26 citations
Serotonergic psychedelics show potential for treating Alzheimer's disease by promoting neuroplasticity and counteracting brain atrophy. Classic psychedelics modulate glutamatergic neurotransmission, stimulate synaptic and network remodeling, and up-regulate neurotrophic factors that support neuronal survival. Muscimol reduces Aβ-induced neurotoxicity, and Sigma-1 receptor agonists protect against Aβ toxicity. Psychedelics activate mTOR pathways in brain regions that atrophy in Alzheimer's, induce structural and functional neural plasticity, increase neurogenesis, and rewire pathological neurocircuitry. These effects enhance brain functional connectivity and address multiple degenerative mechanisms, warranting immediate investigation of psychedelics as treatments for Alzheimer's patients.
Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science
July 31, 2024
Michael James Winkelman
6 citations
Differences among constructivist, perennialist, and universalist views on mystical experiences can be reconciled through neurophenomenology and neuroepistemology, which show that both learned (constructivist) and innate (universal) processes shape these experiences. Specific brain functions and their activation or suspension produce the phenomenal similarities and differences in meditative states. Meditators deliberately modify brain processes through deconditioning of habitual cognition, gaining access to preconceptual awareness and unconscious mental processes. Different mystical experiences involve changes in neurologically mediated forms of self, providing a basis for universal mystical experiences. Recurrent forms of mystical consciousness are understood as natural brain states.
Zygon®
February 1, 2026
Michael James Winkelman, Andrew B. Newberg
The self is necessary for consciousness and central to spirituality. Downregulation of the right parietal lobe (rPL) is linked to spiritual experiences and meditative practices. The rPL supports the embodied self; its disturbance is associated with selflessness and spiritual experience. While many forms of self are incompatible with mystical experiences, the affective core self—the most ancient form—directly corresponds to many characteristics of such experiences. The affective core self and right-hemisphere processes in core spiritual features suggest a reversion to earlier self-representation, explaining the neurophenomenology of some spiritual experiences.
Zygon
December 3, 2025
Michael James Winkelman
A novel approach to spiritual experiences uses self-worth as a conceptual bridge, but faces validity challenges. Resolving the ontological status of spirituality and the soul requires first addressing epistemological questions about the nature of knowledge. Cross-cultural validity for these constructs depends on grounding them in neurophenomenology, neurognostic perspectives, and neurological processes that engage naturalist foundations of religion.
The Behavioral and brain sciences
January 1, 2018
Michael James Winkelman
The author argues that Singh incorrectly lumps together various religious practitioners under a single 'shaman' category, ignoring important differences in their roles. By dismissing biological models of trance and conspicuous display theories, Singh overlooks the evolutionary origins of shamanism, which lie in the social functions of ritual—namely, fostering psychological and social integration and enabling ritual healing.