Prefrontal brain lesions reveal magical ideation arises from enhanced religious experiences.
Wanting Zhong, Frank Krüeger, Marc Wilson, Joseph Bulbulia, Jordan Grafman
Peace and conflict : journal of peace psychology : the journal of the Division of Peace Psychology of the American Psychological Association May 1, 2018 DOI: 10.1037/pac0000336 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Vietnam veterans who sustained penetrating traumatic brain injury (pTBI) and matched healthy controls |
| Keywords | Traumatic brain injury Magical ideation Prefrontal cortex Religious beliefs |
| Key findings | Prefrontal cortex lesions were associated with increased magical ideation, mediated by religious experience, in pTBI patients. |
Abstract
Magical ideation refers to beliefs about causality that lack empirical bases. Few studies have investigated the neural correlates of magical thinking and religious beliefs. Here, we investigate the association between magical ideation and religious experience in a sample of Vietnam veterans who sustained penetrating traumatic brain injury (pTBI) and matched healthy controls (HCs). Scores on the Magical Ideation Scale were positively correlated with scores on the Religious Experience Scale, but only in pTBI patients. Lesion mapping analyses in subgroups of pTBI patients indicated that prefrontal cortex (PFC) lesions were associated with increased magical ideation scores and this relationship was mediated by religious experience. Our findings clarify the mechanism by which the frontal lobe processes modulate magical beliefs. Suppression of the PFC opens people to religious experiences, which in turn increases magical ideation.