Neuroscience Letters
July 27, 2006
Mario Beauregard, Vincent Paquette
338 citations
Mystical experiences—specifically a state of union with God—are associated with activation in multiple brain regions. In Carmelite nuns, fMRI revealed significant activity in the right medial orbitofrontal cortex, right middle temporal cortex, right inferior and superior parietal lobules, right caudate, left medial prefrontal cortex, left anterior cingulate cortex, left inferior parietal lobule, left insula, left caudate, left brainstem, and the extra-striate visual cortex. These findings suggest that such experiences are mediated by several brain regions and systems rather than a single area.
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience
March 24, 2012
Véronique A. Taylor, Véronique Daneault, Joshua A. Grant et al.
317 citations
Experienced meditators with over 1000 hours of training show weaker functional connectivity between default mode network (DMN) regions involved in self-referential processing and emotional appraisal compared to beginners with no prior experience. They also show increased connectivity between certain DMN regions, such as the dorso-medial prefrontal cortex and right inferior parietal lobule. These resting-state functional connectivity changes suggest that extensive meditation training may strengthen present-moment awareness by altering how core DMN regions communicate, even when not actively meditating.
Neuroscience Letters
August 15, 2008
Mario Beauregard, Vincent Paquette
105 citations
Mystical experiences—intense feelings of union with God—are common across cultures, but their brain activity had not been measured with EEG. In 14 Carmelite nuns, EEG was recorded during a resting state, a control condition, and a mystical condition. Compared to the control condition, the mystical condition showed increased theta power at frontal, central, and parietal electrodes, and greater gamma1 power at right temporal and parietal sites. Higher ratios of delta/beta, theta/alpha, and theta/beta appeared at several electrodes. Coherence increased in a frontal-parietal theta band and in several alpha-band pairs across both hemispheres. These results indicate that mystical experiences involve measurable changes in brain electrical activity across multiple cortical areas.
Resuscitation
July 2, 2009
Mario Beauregard, Jérôme Courtemanche, Vincent Paquette
65 citations
Near-death experiencers who mentally visualize and emotionally connect with the 'being of light' they encountered during their experience show distinct brain activity compared to visualizing a lamp's light. Functional MRI reveals activation in regions linked to positive emotions, visual imagery, attention, and spiritual experiences, including the right brainstem, orbitofrontal and prefrontal cortices, insula, and temporal areas. EEG recordings show greater theta, alpha, and gamma power at multiple electrode sites across frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital regions during the meditation condition. These findings suggest that recalling a near-death experience involves measurable neural changes in emotion and imagery networks.