The neural substrates of religious experience

Religious experience, like all human experience, originates in the brain. Clues to its neural basis come from conditions such as temporolimbic epilepsy, near-death experiences, and hallucinogen use, which can produce depersonalization, derealization, ecstasy, and a sense of timelessness. Religious delusions are common in schizophrenia, mania, and depression. The authors propose a limbic marker hypothesis: the temporolimbic system tags certain stimuli as depersonalized, crucially important, harmonious, or joyous, leading individuals to interpret these experiences within a religious framework.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Religious experience is brain-based, like all human experience. Clues to the neural substrates of religious-numinous experience may be gleaned from temporolimbic epilepsy, near-death experiences, and hallucinogen ingestion. These brain disorders and conditions may produce depersonalization, derealization, ecstasy, a sense of timelessness and spacelessness, and other experiences that foster religious-numinous interpretation. Religious delusions are an important subtype of delusional experience in schizophrenia, and mood-congruent religious delusions are a feature of mania and depression. The authors suggest a limbic marker hypothesis for religious-mystical experience. The temporolimbic system tags certain encounters with external or internal stimuli as depersonalized, derealized, crucially important, harmonious, and/or joyous, prompting comprehension of these experiences within a religious framework.