Voluntary and involuntary motor behaviours in the varieties of religious experience.
Brain communications January 1, 2025 Christos Ganos, Michael A Ferguson, Kurt Gray et al.
Religious traditions worldwide include specific actions, termed religious motor behaviours, that can be classified using concepts from movement neuroscience and neurology. These behaviours range from decreased motor output, such as ritualistic silence, to increased output like ritual dances. They also vary in the experience of volition: some involve a heightened sense of personal control, while others feel controlled by an external divine source. Examples include repetitive rituals, automatisms with altered volition, and possession-like states. The authors show parallels between these religious behaviours and motor phenomena in neurological disorders, particularly functional neurological symptoms, without pathologizing them. The work highlights how movement neuroscience and religious activity can inform each other.