The Neural Correlates of Religious and Nonreligious Belief
Sam Harris, Jonas Kaplan, Ashley Curiel, Susan Y. Bookheimer, Marco Iacoboni, Mark S. Cohen
PLoS One September 30, 2009 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0007272 (opens in new tab)
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Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Citations | 173 |
| Key findings | The neural difference between belief and disbelief is content-independent, applying equally to religious and nonreligious statements. |
Abstract
While religious and nonreligious thinking differentially engage broad regions of the frontal, parietal, and medial temporal lobes, the difference between belief and disbelief appears to be content-independent. Our study compares religious thinking with ordinary cognition and, as such, constitutes a step toward developing a neuropsychology of religion. However, these findings may also further our understanding of how the brain accepts statements of all kinds to be valid descriptions of the world.
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Cites 8
- A default mode of brain function Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences January 16, 2001
- Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 8, 2004
- Neural correlates of attentional expertise in long-term meditation practitioners Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences June 28, 2007
- Regulation of the Neural Circuitry of Emotion by Compassion Meditation: Effects of Meditative Expertise PLoS One March 25, 2008
- The Serotonin System and Spiritual Experiences American Journal of Psychiatry November 1, 2003
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