Dreaming, particularly dreams with minimally counterintuitive content, is linked to religious beliefs and practices in traditional societies. Among Hindu Nepalese, such dream content appears frequently and is associated with a greater likelihood of communicating dreams, especially to religious experts, and with higher reported religiosity. The findings support the theory that dreaming is a primary source of religious belief and practice, and they suggest that counterintuitive dream imagery may enhance the cultural transmission and credibility of religious representations.
Despite growing interest from cognitive and neuroscientists, claims that out-of-body experiences (OBEs) are now well understood are premature. The article argues that definitional and conceptual problems still plague the field. Real progress will require recognizing the full spectrum of out-of-body phenomena (OBP) and attending to the neurocultural complexity of distinct instances of OBEs, rather than assuming a single mechanism or explanation.