Mystical & Altered States of Consciousness
Neurotheology
An interdisciplinary research program using brain-imaging technology to study what happens in the brain during prayer, meditation, and other religious or spiritual practices — including studies of Tibetan Buddhist meditators and Franciscan nuns in prayer showing consistent, measurable changes in brain regions associated with attention and spatial orientation.
Proponents
Andrew Newberg, Eugene D'Aquili
Evidence For
Brain-imaging studies across different traditions and practices have found converging, reproducible patterns — notably decreased activity in the brain's parietal lobe, associated with our sense of spatial boundary and self/other distinction, during deep contemplative states across multiple traditions studied.
Evidence Against
Critics on both sides raise concerns: some scientists argue small sample sizes and imaging limitations from the field's early studies overstate the findings, while some theologians argue that explaining a spiritual experience's neural correlates doesn't tell us whether the experience is actually revealing something real about the world.
Real Sources
Transmissions
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