The neurophysiology of religious experience
September 3, 2018 DOI: 10.4324/9780429490576-12 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Citations | 3 |
| Key points | Argues that no existing account of religious experience satisfies both experiencers and those seeking a scientific basis, and that neuropsychiatry faces the problem that the brain appears to offer no place for consciousness or mind. Cites intra-carotid sodium amytal evidence that left-carotid injection during singing affects words while right-carotid injection affects melody. |
Abstract
Religious experience is very common in the population and there are many studies of mystical or religious experience. There is as yet no explanation of religious experience that satisfies both those who have had the experiences and those who seek a scientific basis for them. The problem for neuropsychiatry is that there appears to be no place in the brain for consciousness or mind. The chapter explains there are many people who, like E. Schrodinger, feel claustrophobic when asked to accept that the broad sweep of the soul is contained only within the grey porridge of the brain. Intra-carotid sodium amytal which puts one hemisphere of the brain to sleep, shows that injection into the left carotid artery in a subject who is singing affects the words, while an injection into the right carotid artery affects the melody.