Hmmm…another busy signal
Published in the current issue, Neuroscience Letters has revealed that “mystical experiences appear to involve a number of brain regions and systems that normally control a variety of functions, including self-consciousness, emotion and body representation”.
The results showed that a dozen different regions of the brain were activated when the nuns relived a mystical experience. The finding contradicts previous research that suggested that a specific brain region may be designed for communication with God.
Huh, if the nuns are asked to recall an experience, wouldn’t this be a study to detect an area related to memory? How stupid, everyone knows that only a Divinimeter can detect the God spot!
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Here’s the DOI link to the paper. And in the words of the authors:
“The main limitation of this study was the fact that the subjects were asked to remember and relive a mystical experience rather than actually try to achieve one. Such a strategy was used because the subjects told us a priori that they were not capable of reaching a mystical state at will. In our view, this does not represent a major problem since the phenomenological data indicate that the subjects actually experienced genuine mystical experiences during the Mystical condition. These mystical experiences felt subjectively different than those used to self-induce a mystical state.”
I’d say that’s a pretty severe limitation. And on a more serious note, do you think that there is a specific brain region designed for communication with God? I’m thinking “no” personally.
Comment by Wondertwin — August 31, 2006 @ 8:57 am
WT - No, I don’t believe there is a part of the brain designated for communication with God, but who knows for sure. Also, thanks for the additional info. on the study.
Comment by shelray — August 31, 2006 @ 4:23 pm