The mystical mind: probing the biology of religious experience

Abstract

How does the mind experience the sacred? What biological mechanisms are involved in mystical states and trances? Is there a neurological basis for patterns in comparative religions? Does religion have an evolutionary function? This pathbreaking work by two leading medical researchers explores the neurophysiology of religious experience. Building on an explanation of the basic structure of the brain, the authors focus on parts most relevant to human experience, emotion, and cognition. On this basis, they plot how the brain is involved in mystical experiences. Successive chapters apply this scheme to mythmaking, ritual and liturgy, meditation, near-death experiences, and theology itself. Anchored in such research, the authors also sketch the implications of their work for philosophy, science, theology, and the future of religion.

In the evidence

This study is part of the evidence base for a synthesis in the library. Here is how each one recorded it.

• State of the evidence: Mysticism ?Unclear

  Argues that specific brain structures and processes are involved in mystical and religious experiences and that this neurophysiological account has implications for philosophy, science, theology, and religion.

  Synthesized October 25, 2026

Comparable studies

Other theoretical and historical papers on mysticism, most cited first.