Religion and the brain: Jordan Grafman's contributions to religion and brain research and the special case of religious language.
Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior December 1, 2023 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.10.015 via PubMed
Summary
Brain mediation of mystical experiences and encounters with supernatural agents is not solely reliant on standard social cognitive networks, as shown in experiments involving psychedelics. While these social cognitive networks are disrupted or downregulated, there is also activation of another neural process that is not yet fully understood. This indicates that understanding religious beliefs and experiences requires a broader perspective than viewing them as typical social processes.
Study at a glance
| Key finding | Experiments suggest that mystical encounters involve both disruption of social cognitive networks and activation of an additional neural process. |
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Abstract
Grafman and colleagues' papers in religion and brain research have documented the extent to which religious beliefs and behaviors are mediated by standard social cognitive networks in brain. Grafman's work however also points beyond treatments of religious cognition as merely a species of more general social cognitive processes. Data emerging from experiments targeting mystical states as well as reports of encounters with supernatural agents during controlled experiments with psychedelics, suggest that brain mediation of mystical encounters with supernatural agents involves both disruption/downregulation of social cognitive networks and activation of an additional as yet only partially identified neural process suggesting that a full neuroscience account of religious beliefs, behaviors and experiences must extend beyond treatment of religion as an ordinary social process.