Psychobiology of drug-induced religious experience: from the brain "locus of religion" to cognitive unbinding.

Theories that religious experiences have an evolutionarily conserved biological basis may only apply to modern religious and cultural contexts, not to all historical beliefs. Culture strongly influences both the subjective effects of psychoactive drugs and religious thoughts, arguing against a common brain pathway uniquely responsible for these experiences. Personal beliefs, expectations, and experiences can bias the interpretation of drug-induced states as reflecting biologically based religious thought. Psychobiological research proposing specific brain mechanisms should consider anthropological and historical data. A model based on cognitive unbinding accommodates the evidence better than one positing a specific brain locus for religion.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The recent interest in the psychopharmacological underpinnings of religious experiences has led to both the laboratory characterizations of drug-induced mystical events and psychobiological models of religious experiences rooted in evolution and fitness. Our examination of this literature suggests that these theories may be congruent only within more modern religious and cultural settings and are not generalizable to all historical beliefs, as would be expected from an evolutionarily conserved biological mechanism. The strong influence of culture on the subjective effects of drugs as well as religious thoughts argues against the concept of a common pathway in the brain uniquely responsible for these experiences. Rather, the role of personal beliefs, expectations and experiences may interject bias into the interpretation of psychoactive drug action as a reflection of biologically based religious thought. Thus, psychobiological research proposing specific brain mechanisms should consider anthropological and historical data to address alternative explanations to the "fitness" of religious thought. A psychobiological model of the religious experience based on the concept of cognitive unbinding seems to accommodate these data better than that of a specific brain locus of religion.