The Limbic System and the Soul: Evolution and the Neuroanatomy of Religious Experience
Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science March 2, 2001 DOI: 10.1111/0591-2385.00343 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Mysticism |
| Keywords | Limbic system Soul Amygdala Temporal lobe Psychoanalysis Literature Epistemology |
| Citations | 83 |
| Key points | Proposes that the limbic system, especially the amygdala, hippocampus, and temporal lobe, underlies religious, spiritual, and mystical experiences and that hyperactivity in these structures is linked to reported encounters with supernatural beings. |
Abstract
The evolutionary neurological foundations of religious experience are detailed. Human beings have been burying and preparing their dead for the Hereafter for more than 100,000 years. These behaviors and beliefs are related to activation of the amygdala, hippocampus, and temporal lobe, which are responsible for religious, spiritual, and mystical trancelike states, dreaming, astral projection, near‐death and out‐of‐body experiences, and the hallucination of ghosts, demons, angels, and gods. Abraham, Moses, Muhammad, and Jesus Christ, and others who have communed with angels or gods display limbic system hyperactivity, whereas patients report religious hallucinations or out‐of‐body experiences when limbic structures are stimulated or excessively activated. It is postulated that limbic and temporal lobe structures account for the sexual and violent aspects of religious behavior and also serve as a “transmitter to God,” and that the evolution of these structures made spiritual experience possible.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on mysticism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The mystical mind: probing the biology of religious experience | 2000 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Religious and Mystical Experiences as Artifacts of Temporal Lobe Function: A General Hypothesis | 1983 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Problem of Pure Consciousness: Mysticism and Philosophy | 1993 | Edited collection of essays | |
| Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mysticism and schizophrenia: A phenomenological exploration of the structure of consciousness in the schizophrenia spectrum disorders. | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 18
- Mystical experiences associated with seizures Religion, Brain & Behavior April 8, 2014
- Mother Schema, Obstetric Dilemma, and the Origin of Behavioral Modernity. Behavioral Sciences December 6, 2019
- Psychoneurological Dimensions of Anomalous Experience in Relation to Religious Belief and Spiritual Practic Palgrave Macmillan US eBooks 2005
- A Review of the Relationship among Self, Mind and Brain in Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study: Tree-Pattern Image of Semantic Map in Human Brain Viewed from the Ultron-Logotron Theory Open Journal of Philosophy 2018
- SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE AT KOREAN MOUNTAIN KYERYONGSAN EPH - International Journal of Humanities and Social Science April 10, 2020
and 13 more in the library