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Body and Mind
Materials accompanying a TV special on body and mind, with an brief overview of older theories and notable neurotheology research.
http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites...
Neurological Correlates of Transformational Experiences
Article building on work of Persinger and d'Aquili, looking at near-death experiences with neuroimaging.
http://www.meridianinstitute.com/reports/n...
A Mystical Union
Economist article giving overview of recent research in neurotheology.
http://www.economist.com/science/displaySt...
Neurotheology on Wikipedia
A brief but balanced overview of the field.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurotheology
Linking Out-of-Body Experience and Self Processing to Mental Own-Body Imagery at the Temporoparietal Junction
Paper by Olaf Blanke and team on the neurocognitive bases of out-of-body (OBE) experiences, from Journal of Neuroscience.
http://www.jneurosci.org/cgi/content/abstr...
Neurology of Spiritual Experiences
Articles on spiritual experience and magnetic signal brain stimulation by one of Michael Persinger's students.
http://www.innerworlds.50megs.com/
The "God" Part Of The Brain
Website for Matthew Alper's book which suggests that "humans are innately hard-wired to perceive a spiritual reality".
http://godpart.com/
Religion and the Brain.
Newsweek article that brought neurotheology widespread popular recognition.
http://www.templeton.org/brainmindemergenc...
The Physical and Psychological Effects of Meditation
Online portions of a book by the same name, reviewing scientific studies, discussing behavioral effects, and giving subjective reports. Searchable bibliography on meditation research.
http://www.noetic.org/research/medbiblio/c...
Wired for the Ultimate Reality: The Neuropsychology of Religious Experience
Article by Drs. Andrew Newberg and Eugene D'Aquili on the biological mechanisms underlying religious and spiritual experience, from the PBS "The Question of God" series.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/questionofgod/voic...
Physiology of meditation
Article covering meditation and its relationship to the metabolism, autonomic nervous system, endocrine system, and central nervous system.
http://ejmas.com/pt/ptart_shin_0400.htm
Are We Hardwired for God?
The Guardian newspaper's review of Pascal Boyer's book "Religion Explained".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/...
This Is Your Brain on God
Wired Magazine interview of Michael Persinger, leading figure in the reductionist school of neurotheology.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.11/pe...
Neurotheology & Shamanism
Dr. Michael Winkelman, Anthropology Professor at Arizona State and author of "Shamanism: The Neural Economy of Consciousness", discusses the neurological basis of shamanism, mankind's oldest spiritual practice.
http://www.cognitiveliberty.org/neuro/wink...
Tracing the Synapses of Our Spirituality
Washington Post article by Shankar Vedantam on researchers examining the relationship between brain and religion.
http://www.maps.org/media/vedantam.html
The God Gene
Carl Zimmer critically reviews Dean Hamer's book "The God Gene: How Faith Is Hard-wired Into Our Genes".
http://www.carlzimmer.com/articles/2004/ar...
The God Fossil
New Times article on Jesse Bering, who has researched children's belief in the afterlife, and the reaction to his work.
http://www.newtimesbpb.com/Issues/2006-03-...
Transcendental Meditation Scientific Research
Bibliography of hundreds of scientific studies on the effects of Transcendental Meditation, including improved brain functioning.
http://www.tm.org.nz/research/
Guardian Unlimited | Life | Tests of faith
Article discussing evolutionary, anthropological (Boyer), and neuroscientific (Ramachandran, Newberg) aspects of religion.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/feature/sto...
Meditation and the Brain
Report on a conference held by MIT's McGovern Institute for Brain Research, bringing together Buddhists and neuroscientists.
http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/0...
On the Neuropsychology of Religious Experiences
Review of literature on neuropsychology of religious experiences, including temporal lobe model, D'Aquili's model for meditative states, and substance-induced religious experience.
http://www.psych.uiuc.edu/~bhidalgo/litrev...
Numenware, a blog about neurotheology
Frequently updated blog about neurotheology. Also covers some general neuroscience, Dogen, language, and Japan topics.
http://www.numenware.com
Study asks whether chemicals and communion are one
Article from "Science and Theology News" describing the neuroimaging of praying nuns performed by University of Montreal researcher Mario Beauregard.
http://www.mapageweb.umontreal.ca/beauregm...
BBC - Science & Nature - Horizon - God on the Brain
Is a part of our brains hardwired to generate religious feelings? Program summary for a BBC neurotheology special.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2003/...
Ghosts in a machine
Overview article from Times Online, dicussing Persinger, Blanke, Newberg.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,81...
What Buddhists Know About Science
Wired article on relationship between Tibetan meditation and the brain.
http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,5...
Meridian Magazine :: Neurotheology
BYU scholars give a brief overview of neurotheology, and ponder the neurological basis of Joseph Smith's revelations.
http://www.meridianmagazine.com/ideas/0402...
Religiosity is associated with hippocampal but not amygdala volumes in patients with refractory epilepsy -- Wuerfel et al. 75 (4): 640 -- Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry
Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry article finding that epilepsy patients with high religiosity had smaller right hippocampi.
http://jnnp.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/fu...
How the Brain Creates God
Broad-ranging overview by Iona Miller, touching on archetypes, NDEs, drugs, trances, TMS, and shamanism.
http://www.nwbotanicals.org/oak/magick/cre...
"Neurotheology": A semantic trap set by pseudo-science for the unwary scientist
Article claiming there is no scientific rationale for the nouveau term "Neurotheology", and that researchers working on topics relating to religion should stick to the conventional Behavioural and Social Neurosciences categories.
http://www.cns.res.in/neurotheology.html
Doubt cast on theory that magnetic fields spark religious feelings
Swedish researchers conduct a double-blind study said to debunk Persinger's theories of magnetic stimulation causing religious experiences, as reported in Nature.
http://www.nature.com/news/2004/041206/pf/...
Zen and the Brain
Summary of "Zen and the Brain", James H. Austin's definitive work tracing the neuroscientific aspects of Zen.
http://www.csp.org/chrestomathy/zen_and.ht...
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2006