Elsevier

Asian Journal of Psychiatry

Volume 6, Issue 6, December 2013, Pages 585-589
Asian Journal of Psychiatry

Spirituality & Psychiatry
Implications of spiritual experiences to the understanding of mind–brain relationship

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2013.01.006Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective

While there has been a large increase in scientific studies on spirituality, there has been too few of studies of the core of spirituality: spiritual experiences (SE), which often involve altered states of consciousness, reports of anomalous experiences and of consciousness beyond the body. This paper argues that SE, although usually neglected in debates regarding mind–brain relationship (MBR), may provide the much needed enlargement of the empirical basis for advancing the understanding of the MBR.

Methods

This paper briefly presents and discusses recent scientific investigations on some types of SE (meditative states, end of life and near death experiences, mediumship and alleged memories of previous lives) and their implications to MBR.

Results

Neurofunctional studies of SE have shown that they are related to but not necessarily caused by complex functional patterns in several brain areas. The study of meditative states, as voluntarily induced mind states that influence brain states has been a privileged venue to investigate top-down (mind over brain) causation. End of life and near death experiences offer cases of unexpected adequate mental function under severe brain damage and/or dysfunction. Scientific investigations of several types of SE have provided evidence against materialistic reductionist views of mind.

Conclusions

The recent trend to scientifically investigate SE has already produced interesting and thought-provoking findings that deserve careful further exploration. Because of their potential implication, these findings may also contribute to the understanding of MBR, which remains an important, yet poorly explored way to investigate human nature.

Highlights

► The understanding of the mind–brain relationship (MBR) has been one of greatest scientific/philosophical challenges. ► Spiritual experiences (SE) often involve altered states of consciousness and reports of anomalous experiences that deserve rigorous investigation. ► We argue that SE may provide the much needed enlargement of the empirical basis for advancing the understanding of the MBR. ► We review recent scientific investigations on SE and discuss their implications to the understanding of human mind and MBR. ► Scientifific investigations of several types of SE have provided thought-provoking evidence against materialistic reductionist views of mind.

Introduction

In the last decades there has been a large increase in scientific studies on spirituality, especially on the association between religious involvement variables and health outcomes (Koenig et al., 2001). However, there has been a paucity of studies of the core, of what many claim to be the source of spirituality: spiritual experiences (SE).

There is a lasting controversy on the definition of spirituality. More recently, there has been a tendency of enlarging the definition of spirituality. This expansion of concept brings the risk of missing the core of the concept of spirituality and of conflating it with psychological constructs such as well-being and purpose in life (Koenig, 2008, Moreira-Almeida and Koenig, 2006). Etymologically, spirituality comes from “spiritual”, related to the “spirit”: non-material aspects of universe and human beings (Merriam-Webster, 2012, Hufford, 2010). A recent paper found the belief in supernatural spirits as the best predictor of spirituality (Lindeman et al., 2012). The belief that there is a non-material component in the universe and in the essence of human being is a belief shared by many, if not most spiritual traditions in the world (Hufford, 2010, Walach and Reich, 2005). Based on this it is not surprising that SE often involve altered states of consciousness, reports of anomalous experiences and of consciousness beyond the body. Some authors argue that SE are the source of beliefs in a spiritual realm (Hufford, 2005, Hufford, 2010, Walach and Reich, 2005).

Too often, SE have been neglected by academics, who refuse to take them seriously as empirical data that deserve careful and rigorous exploration. One possible explanation of this dismissal is the very common confusion between science and the metaphysical/philosophical positions of scientism and materialism (Walach and Reich, 2005, Araujo, 2012). As Haught (2005) discussed, although it is a widespread belief that science (a method of exploration) is inseparable from a materialistic ideology (a worldview), “it is not written anywhere that the rest of us who appreciate science have to believe that. In fact, most of the great founders of modern science did not.” (p. 367).

Section snippets

Mind–brain relationship

The understanding of mind and consciousness is one of the most interesting and challenging quests human beings have posed to themselves. Particularly relevant is the investigation of the mind–brain relationship (MBR), how brain relates to mind and vice versa. There are several hypotheses, among the most discussed: mind and brain are the same, brain produces mind, and brain is a tool for mind manifestation. Although this is a millennial debate, there have been renewed interests in the study of

Spiritual experiences

During the second half of 19th century and most part of 20th century, SE were often explained away as symptoms of mental disorders. In this way, SE were usually considered as consequence of brain disorders, psychological defenses or immature personality (Le Maléfan, 1999, Moreira-Almeida et al., 2005). However, there has emerged a growing body of evidence that SE are not usually related to mental disorders and that they are often related to actually better mental health (Moreira-Almeida and

Conclusion

The recent trend to scientifically investigate SE has already produced interesting and thought-provoking findings that deserve careful further exploration. Because of their potential implication, these findings may also contribute to the understanding of MBR, which remains an important, yet poorly explored way to investigate human nature.

Conflict of interest

None.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Homero Vallada MD, PhD and Saulo Araujo PhD for their very helpful comments to previous versions of this paper.

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