Peak Experience and the Insula in Health and Illness
Simon Nicholson
Progress in Neurology and Psychiatry October 1, 2024 DOI: 10.1002/pnp.12019 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Mystical experience |
| Key findings | The insula and associated structures are implicated in peak experiences such as romantic love, profound spirituality, and engagement with the arts, which can impart a sense of connection and meaning. |
Abstract
AbstractThree major neural networks exist in the human central nervous system—the executive function network, the default mode network and the salience network. A key component of the latter is the insula. The insula and associated structures is implicated in peak experiences such as romantic love, profound spirituality and engagement with the arts which can impart to those experiencing them a sublime sense of connection with something beyond themselves which helps give their lives meaning. This mental state can also occur in rare neuropsychiatric disorders; here, Dr Nicholson explores the research.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on mystical experience, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classic psychedelics: An integrative review of epidemiology, therapeutics, mystical experience, and brain network function. General population | 2019 | Integrative review | |
| Classic Hallucinogens and Mystical Experiences: Phenomenology and Neural Correlates. | 2018 | Review | |
| Peak experiences and the afterglow phenomenon: When and how do therapeutic effects of hallucinogens depend on psychedelic experiences? | 2015 | Review | |
| Are “mystical experiences” essential for antidepressant actions of ketamine and the classic psychedelics? | 2024 | Review | |
| Psychedelic Mystical Experience: A New Agenda for Theology | 2022 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cites 4
- The salience network is responsible for switching between the default mode network and the central executive network: Replication from DCM Neuroimage May 24, 2014
- Neural correlates of a mystical experience in Carmelite nuns Neuroscience Letters July 27, 2006
- Insular Stimulation Produces Mental Clarity and Bliss. Annals of Neurology December 20, 2021
- Neurology of ecstatic religious and similar experiences: Ecstatic, orgasmic, and musicogenic seizures. Stendhal syndrome and autoscopic phenomena. Neurología June 21, 2016