Contributions of Neuropsychology to the Study of Ancient Literature.
Franco Fabbro, Anastasia Fabbro, Cristiano Crescentini
Frontiers in Psychology 2018 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01092 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Antiquity Dreams Hermeneutics Literature Neuropsychology Soul |
| Key points | Argues that neuropsychology offers a new approach to ancient literature, providing an epistemological framework and applying it to topics such as encounters with gods, biblical concepts of right and left, the soul, glossolalia in Paul of Tarsus, mindful versus unitive meditation in Buddhist literature, and dreams in ancient Greek literature. Contends that such collaboration between neuroscience and humanistic studies can yield fruitful results. |
Abstract
The present work introduces the neuropsychological paradigm as a new approach to studying ancient literature. In the first part of the article, an epistemological framework for the proper use of neuropsychology in relation to ancient literature is presented. The article then discusses neuropsychological methods of studying different human experiences and dimensions already addressed by ancient literatures. The experiences of human encounters with gods among ancient cultures are first considered, through the contributions of Julian Jaynes and Eric R. Dodds. The concepts of right and left in the Bible, and that of soul are then discussed. Ecstatic experience in Paul of Tarsus is also presented, with a particular focus on glossolalia. Neuroscientific differences between mindful and unitive meditative practices are then described referring to ancient Buddhist literature, and finally a brief description of dreams in ancient Greek literature is proposed. Neuropsychology variously enables a more profound understanding of themes characterizing human experiences that ancient literature has already explored; these investigations prove that the collaboration of neuroscience and humanistic studies can return fruitful and interesting results.
Comparable studies
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| Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mechanisms of mindfulness | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cites 12
- Out‐of‐body experience and autoscopy of neurological origin Brain January 15, 2004
- The Spiritual Brain: Selective Cortical Lesions Modulate Human Self-Transcendence Neuron February 1, 2010
- Meditation-related activations are modulated by the practices needed to obtain it and by the expertise: an ALE meta-analysis study Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2013
- Dreaming: a psychological view Schweizer Archiv Fur Neurologie Und Psychiatrie December 7, 2005
- How bizarre? A pluralist approach to dream content. Consciousness and Cognition July 1, 2018
and 7 more in the library