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Neuroscience and Spirituality – Findings and Consequences

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Neuroscience, Consciousness and Spirituality

Part of the book series: Studies in Neuroscience, Consciousness and Spirituality ((SNCS,volume 1))

Abstract

In this chapter we first define religious, spiritual and mystical experiences (RSMEs). We then review clinical data about patients with epilepsy suggesting a role for the temporal lobe and the limbic system in RSMEs. The possibility of experimentally inducing such experiences by stimulating the temporal lobe with weak electromagnetic currents is examined. The limbic-marker hypothesis is also presented. The findings of brain imaging studies of RSMEs carried out during the last decade are then examined. Next, these findings and the phenomenology of RSMEs in regard to the mind-brain problem are discussed. Finally, we terminate the chapter with a few concluding remarks.

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Abbreviations

BA:

Brodmann area

BOLD:

Blood oxygen level dependent

CAT:

Computed axial tomography

EEG:

Electroencephalography

FMRI:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging

NDE:

Near-death experience

PET:

Positron emission tomography

rCBF:

regional cerebral blood flow

RSMEs:

Religious spiritual and mystical experiences

SPECT:

Photon emission computed tomography

TLE:

Temporal-lobe epilepsy

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mind/Brain Research Lab (MBRL), Centre de Recherche en Neuropsychologie et Cognition (CERNEC), Département de Psychologie, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Mario Beauregard

  2. Centre de Recherche en Sciences Neurologiques, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Mario Beauregard

  3. Département de Radiologie, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Mario Beauregard

  4. Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Mario Beauregard

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  1. Mario Beauregard
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Correspondence to Mario Beauregard .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Institute for Transcultural Health Scien, European Universtiy Viadrina, Frankfurt, Grosse Scharrnstr. 59, Frankfurt, 15230, Germany

    Harald Walach

  2. , Dept. of Environmental Health Sciences, University Medical Center Freiburg, Breisacherstr. 115b, Freiburg, 79106, Germany

    Stefan Schmidt

  3. Samueli Institute, King Street 1737, Alexandria, 22314, Virginia, USA

    Wayne B. Jonas

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Beauregard, M. (2011). Neuroscience and Spirituality – Findings and Consequences. In: Walach, H., Schmidt, S., Jonas, W. (eds) Neuroscience, Consciousness and Spirituality. Studies in Neuroscience, Consciousness and Spirituality, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2079-4_4

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