Religious and Mystical Experiences as Artifacts of Temporal Lobe Function: A General Hypothesis

@article{Persinger1983ReligiousAM,
  title={Religious and Mystical Experiences as Artifacts of Temporal Lobe Function: A General Hypothesis},
  author={M. Persinger},
  journal={Perceptual and Motor Skills},
  year={1983},
  volume={57},
  pages={1255 - 1262}
}
  • M. Persinger
  • Published 1983
  • Psychology, Medicine
  • Perceptual and Motor Skills
    • Mystical and religious experiences are hypothesized to be evoked by transient, electrical microseizures within deep structures of the temporal lobe. Although experiential details are affected by context and reinforcement history, basic themes reflect the inclusion of different amygdaloid-hippocampal structures and adjacent cortices. Whereas the unusual electrical coherence allows access to infantile memories of parents, a source of god expectations, specific stimulation evokes out-of-body… CONTINUE READING
    View on SAGE
    demenzemedicinagenerale.net
    Top 3 of 248 Citations
    People Who Report Religious Experiences May Also Display Enhanced Temporal-Lobe Signs
    M. PersingerPerceptual and motor skills1984
    55
    Geophysical Variables and Behavior: LV. Predicting the Details of Visitor Experiences and the Personality of Experients: The Temporal Lobe Factor
    M. PersingerPerceptual and motor skills1989
    26
    Temporal Lobe Signs and Reports of Subjective Paranormal Experiences in a Normal Population: A Replication
    M. Persinger, P. M. ValliantPerceptual and motor skills1985
    53

    Topics from this paper.

    Explore Further: Topics Discussed in This Paper

    248 Citations
    Citation Type

    Citation Type

    People Who Report Religious Experiences May Also Display Enhanced Temporal-Lobe Signs
    • 55
    Geophysical Variables and Behavior: LV. Predicting the Details of Visitor Experiences and the Personality of Experients: The Temporal Lobe Factor
    • 26
    Temporal Lobe Signs and Reports of Subjective Paranormal Experiences in a Normal Population: A Replication
    • 53
    The Spiritual Brain: A Neuroscientist's Case for the Existence of the Soul
    • 130
    • PDF
    Near-Death Experiences and the Temporal Lobe
    • 105
    • Highly Influenced
    Vectorial Cerebral Hemisphericity as Differential Sources for the Sensed Presence, Mystical Experiences and Religious Conversions
    • 98
    Tobacyk's Paranormal Belief Scale and Temporal Lobe Signs: Sex Differences in the Experiences of Ego-Alien Intrusions
    • 24
    Temporal lobe lability in the highly transliminal mind
    • 29
    • PDF
    Preadolescent Religious Experience Enhances Temporal Lobe Signs in Normal Young Adults
    • 27
    The Role of Religious and Mystic Experiences In Human Evolution: A Corollary Hypothesis for NeuroTheology
    • 2
    • PDF

    References

    Publications referenced by this paper.
    SHOWING 1-10 OF 35 REFERENCES
    Quantitative analysis of interictal behavior in temporal lobe epilepsy.
    • 770
    Interictal Behavioral Changes in Epilepsy
    • 84
    Psychological Responses in the Human to Intracerebral Electrical Stimulation
    • 66
    The relationship of hallucinations to the depth structures of the temporal lobe.
    • 25
    Temporal Lobe Epilepsy: Its Possible Contribution to the Understanding of the Functional Significance of the Amygdala and of Its Interaction with Neocortical-Temporal Mechanisms
    • 121
    Geophysical Variables and Behavior: IX. Expected Clinical Consequences of Close Proximity to UFO-Related Luminosities
    • 16
    The Schizophrenia-like Psychoses of Epilepsy: i. Psychiatric Aspects
    • 720
    The Function of Hallucinations: An Inquiry into the Relationship of Hallucinatory Experience to Creative Thought
    • 10
    Behavioral steering in dual and social states of conation by the amygdala, hypothalamus, ventral striatum, and thalamus.
    • R. Pay
    • Psychology, Medicine
    • 1982
    • 53
    Hallucinations on Brain Stimulation: Evidence for Revision of the Penfield Hypothesis
    • 51