IN FOCUS
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The Biology of Religious Experiences
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Dalai Lama introduced to fMRI imaging
equipment at Richard Davidson’s Brain & Emotions Research
Laboratory, University of Wisonsin-Madison, May 2001
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One of the Institute's research concentrations is on the biology of
religious and spiritual experiences. This topic was neglected until a
couple of decades ago and is still relatively under-examined compared to
other aspects of human biology and brain function. Yet it holds such fascination for
people that almost every new study is widely publicized and greeted with
enthusiasm or dismay or a strange combination of the two.
One of the reasons that neurological studies of religious and
spiritual experiences are still relatively rare is that such studies are
unusually complicated, with many variables for which it is difficult to
control. Progress is always slower under such circumstances. Another
reason such studies are rare is a social one: scientific reputation
needs to be built carefully and there is enough suspicion around topics
such as religion that young scientists hesitate to get involved for fear
that they will not be taken seriously by their colleagues.
The Institute for the Biocultural Study of Religion exists in part to
conduct and coordinate rigorous research in this area, and in other
aspects of the biological and cultural functions of religious behaviors,
beliefs, and experiences. The
Activities page will introduce you to some aspects of our work. The
News & Events page will alert you to new
information about grant opportunities, forthcoming lectures, or new
publications. The Related Links page
will direct you to sites containing valuable information connected to
the Institute's research programs.
To view Dr. Wildman's recent public lectures on the scientific methods
and practical and intellectual purposes of the study of religious and
spiritual experiences, visit
BUniverse.
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Coming soon...
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Have you seen...
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William James wrote,
“The overcoming of the barriers between the individual and the
Absolute is the great mystical achievement."
Richard Dawkins said,
"If you’ve had [a religious] experience, you may well find
yourself believing firmly that it was real. But don’t expect the
rest of us to take your word for it, especially if we have the
slightest familiarity with the brain and its powerful workings.”
How can conflict between affirmative and
skeptical interpretations of religious experience be
adjudicated? |
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Papers from the 2007
"International Conference on the Evolution of Religion" are soon
to be published. Titled The Evolution of Religion: Studies,
Theories, and Critiques, the volume is edited by Joseph
Bulbulia, Richard Sosis, Erica Harris (an Institute Fellow), Russell Genet,
Cheryl Gennet, and Karen Wyman. The book is scheduled to be
published by the Collins Foundation Press early in 2008.
For more information about the book and its
contents, visit the conference site. |
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Neuroscientist Mario
Beauregard's new book is titled The Spiritual Brain.
He advances a case for the existence of the
soul. Is it possible to agree with his argument against a flatly materialistic view of human
beings, but remain unconvinced about his
argument for a non-physical soul? In other words, are his
two options the only ones? |
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