Neurology of ecstatic religious and similar experiences: Ecstatic, orgasmic, and musicogenic seizures. Stendhal syndrome and autoscopic phenomena.
M Arias
Neurología June 21, 2016 DOI: 10.1016/j.nrl.2016.04.010 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | MDMA |
| Keywords | Humans Epilepsy, reflex Psychophysiologic disorders Religion and psychology Adult Female Musicogenic epilepsy Austoscopic phenomena Ecstatic epilepsy Epilepsia extática Epilepsia musicogénica Epilepsia orgásmica Fenómenos autoscópicos Orgasmic epilepsy Stendhal syndrome Síndrome de stendhal Éxtasis |
| Key findings | Argues that mystical and religious experiences result from brain activity, specifically activation of the anterior insular cortex and networks involved in introspection, social cognition, memory, and emotion, based on neuroimaging and neurophysiological studies of ecstatic epilepsy. Proposes that ecstatic epilepsy shares mechanisms with orgasmic epilepsy, musicogenic epilepsy, Stendhal syndrome, and autoscopic phenomena, and that neuroscience can retrospectively explain experiences of figures like Paul the Apostle, Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada, and Dostoevsky. |
Abstract
All human experiences, including mystical and religious ones, are the result of brain functional activity. Thanks to the study of cases of ecstatic epilepsy with structural (MRI) and functional neuroimaging (fMRI, PET, SPECT) and neurophysiological technologies (recording and stimulation with intracranial electrodes), we now have a better knowledge of certain mental states which involve pleasant and affective symptoms and clarity of mind. These ecstatic experiences are thought to be caused by the activation of the anterior insular cortex and some neuronal networks (basically related to mirror neurons and salience) participating in introspection, social cognition, memory, and emotional processes. Thus, neuroscience could explain in a retrospective way some facts surrounding the situations of such relevant figures as Paul the Apostle, Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada, and Dostoevsky, whose origin was previously considered paranormal or supernatural. Ecstatic epilepsy shares symptoms and mechanisms with orgasmic epilepsy (spontaneous orgasms in the course of epileptic seizures), musicogenic epilepsy (epileptic seizures triggered by listening to a certain musical piece), and also with Stendhal syndrome (neuropsychiatric disturbances caused when an individual is exposed to large amounts of art) and some autoscopic phenomena (out-of-body experiences that occasionally take place in imminent death situations). In all these events, there are pleasant and affective symptoms which have a great impact on patients.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on MDMA, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Human Pharmacology of MDMA | 2004 | Review | |
| Human psychopharmacology of Ecstasy (MDMA): a review of 15 years of empirical research | 2001 | Review | |
| 3,4‐Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, “Ecstasy”): pharmacology and toxicology in animals and humans | 1994 | Review | |
| (±)3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (‘Ecstasy’)-Induced Serotonin Neurotoxicity: Studies in Animals | 2000 | Review | |
| Amphetamine toxicities | 2010 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cites 12
- Out‐of‐body experience and autoscopy of neurological origin Brain January 15, 2004
- Neural correlates of a mystical experience in Carmelite nuns Neuroscience Letters July 27, 2006
- The Neural Correlates of Religious and Nonreligious Belief PLoS One September 30, 2009
- Jerusalem syndrome The British Journal of Psychiatry 2000
- Out-of-body experiences associated with seizures Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2014
and 7 more in the library