Ever wondered how your brain processes spiritual experiences? Scientists have identified a possible “neurobiological home” for the sense of connection to something greater than oneself.
The study showed that activity in the parietal cortex — an area of the brain involved in awareness of self and others as well as attention processing — seems to be a common element among individuals who have experienced a variety of spiritual experiences.
“Understanding the neural bases of spiritual experiences may help us better understand their roles in resilience and recovery from mental health and addictive disorders,” said Marc Potenza, Professor at Yale University in Connecticut, U.S..
Spiritual experiences can be religious in nature or not, such as a feeling of oneness with nature or the absence of self during sporting events.
In the study, published in the journal Cerebral Cortex, the researchers said, “We observed in the spiritual condition, as compared with the neutral-relaxing condition, reduced activity in the left inferior parietal lobule , a result that suggests the IPL may contribute importantly to perceptual processing and self-other representations during spiritual experiences,” said the researchers.