Neuroscience
The title of this article by Beauregard and Paquette is a little misleading, because "God can’t be summoned at will."
R MOFC - medial orbitofrontal cortex
L IPL - inferior parietal lobule
R MTC - middle temporal cortex
L SPL - superior parietal lobule
R MPFC - medial prefrontal cortex
R ACC - anterior cingulate cortex
However, the Carmelites are cloistered -- cut off from contact with the outside world. They're not close to any other humans (except for fellow nuns), and by definition
Nonetheless, the brain regions activated by both Mystical and Control conditions (each compared to Baseline) were right superior parietal lobule, left caudate, left ACC, and left brainstem. Interestingly,
Also interestingly, the caudate and ACC regions activated in both these conditions (and hence subtracted away in the direct comparison between them) are ALSO quite active when an amorous lover views a photo of his/her romantic partner (Bartels & Zeki, 2000; Aron et al., 2005; Fisher et al., 2005). BUT it's not up to me to engage in reverse inference1 here...
1 inferring the participants' emotional state from the observed pattern of brain activity.
References
Aron A, Fisher H, Mashek DJ, Strong G, Li H, Brown LL. (2005). Reward, motivation, and emotion systems associated with early-stage intense romantic love. J Neurophysiol. 94:327-37.
Bartels A, Zeki S. (2000). The neural basis of romantic love. Neuroreport 11:3829-34.
Fisher H, Aron A, Brown LL. (2005) Romantic love: an fMRI study of a neural mechanism for mate choice. J Comp Neurol. 493:58-62.
- Is Romantic Love A Western, Heterosexual Construct?
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Neuroscience
Neural Correlates of a Mystical Experience in Carmelite Nuns
The title of this article by Beauregard and Paquette is a little misleading, because "God can’t be summoned at will."Beauregard M, Paquette V. (2006). Neural correlates of a mystical experience in Carmelite nuns. Neurosci Lett. Jul 25; [Epub ahead of print]The activation conditions compared in the figure above are the Mystical condition, in which subjects were asked to remember and relive (eyes closed) the most intense mystical experience ever felt in their lives as a member of the Carmelite Order vs. the Baseline condition, which was the "resting state" with eyes closed.
The main goal of this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study was to identify the neural correlates of a mystical experience. The brain activity of Carmelite nuns was measured while they were subjectively in a state of union with God. This state was associated with significant loci of activation 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, and left brainstem. Other loci of activation were seen in the extra-striate visual cortex. These results suggest that mystical experiences are mediated by several brain regions and systems.
Keywords: Carmelite nuns; Mystical state; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Temporal lobes; Prefrontal cortex; Parietal cortex; Spiritual neuroscience
Mystical experience is characterized by a sense of union with God. It can also include a number of other elements, such as the sense of having touched the ultimate ground of reality, the experience of timelessness and spacelessness, the sense of union with humankind and the universe, as well as feelings of positive affect, peace, joy and unconditional love.However, the experiment did not involve direct induction of a "mystical experience," but rather a memory of one. Importantly, the Control condition asked the nuns to remember and relive (eyes closed) the most intense state of union with another human ever felt in their lives while being affiliated with the Carmelite Order. So the important contrast is "remember union with God" (Mystical) vs. "remember union with human" (Control). Here's the list of brain areas more active in the former:
R MOFC - medial orbitofrontal cortex
L IPL - inferior parietal lobule
R MTC - middle temporal cortex
L SPL - superior parietal lobule
R MPFC - medial prefrontal cortex
R ACC - anterior cingulate cortex
However, the Carmelites are cloistered -- cut off from contact with the outside world. They're not close to any other humans (except for fellow nuns), and by definition
a Carmelite has given her life totally to Jesus Christ. She desires to follow Him and belong to Him completely.[BTW, check out the flashy Carmelite Web Site]
Nonetheless, the brain regions activated by both Mystical and Control conditions (each compared to Baseline) were right superior parietal lobule, left caudate, left ACC, and left brainstem. Interestingly,
The average intensity of the subjective experience was 3.06 ± 0.93 (range: 2–5) during the Mystical condition and 3.04 ± 0.80 (range: 2–5) during the Control condition.After the scan, the nuns rated the intensity of the subjective experience during the Control and Mystical conditions using a rating scale ranging from 0 (no experience of union) to 5 (most intense experience of union ever felt). This was a rating of how they actually felt during the scan, not how they felt during the original episode (recalled to elicit the Control and Mystical states). So during the scan, the nuns felt equally intense about remembering "union with God" and "union with human." During the Mystical condition, the nuns reported feeling the presence of God, unconditional and infinite love, plenitude, and peace. They also reported feeling unconditional love during the Control condition.
Also interestingly, the caudate and ACC regions activated in both these conditions (and hence subtracted away in the direct comparison between them) are ALSO quite active when an amorous lover views a photo of his/her romantic partner (Bartels & Zeki, 2000; Aron et al., 2005; Fisher et al., 2005). BUT it's not up to me to engage in reverse inference1 here...
1 inferring the participants' emotional state from the observed pattern of brain activity.
References
Aron A, Fisher H, Mashek DJ, Strong G, Li H, Brown LL. (2005). Reward, motivation, and emotion systems associated with early-stage intense romantic love. J Neurophysiol. 94:327-37.
Bartels A, Zeki S. (2000). The neural basis of romantic love. Neuroreport 11:3829-34.
Fisher H, Aron A, Brown LL. (2005) Romantic love: an fMRI study of a neural mechanism for mate choice. J Comp Neurol. 493:58-62.
- Is Romantic Love A Western, Heterosexual Construct?
ROMANTIC LOVE WAS INVENTED TO MANIPULATE WOMEN-Jenny Holzer, Truisms Does romantic love manipulate women into providing free domestic labor and sexual favors for men? Some feminist views of romantic love [and the institution of marriage] portray it...
- Hate On Halloween
It was only a matter of time...and it's just in time for Halloween! The Neural Correlates of _____________1 [insert complex emotion or behavior here] is still a news- and flashy-publication-worthy title for your next neuroimaging paper! Use your...
- Hypnosis And Consciousness
Next in a continuing series on hypnosis: Functional neuroanatomy of the hypnotic state In Press, Corrected Proof, Journal of Physiology (Paris). Marie-Elisabeth Faymonville, Mélanie Boly and Steven Laureys What is hypnosis and how to induce it There...
- Humor, Hot Flashes, And Empathy For Pain
These three phenomena activate the same brain areas (anterior cingulate cortex and frontoinsular cortex), according to recent findings. Any theory about the neural correlates of empathy must take into account the fact that the same brain regions are activated...
- Brain Scans And Lie Detection: True Or False?
Now this is a rapidly expanding area of research (and one that's quite well-funded by the DOD). Wired did a piece on this recently (Don't Even Think About Lying), and there's an AP story that appeared in papers around the country (e.g., the...