Neural factors that define religiosity: neurophysiological distinction between the individual with religious and non-religious beliefs

Abstract

Introduction: Religiosity and mystical experiences accompany society throughout history, integrating its identity formation. Neuroscience unveils neural correlations, maps the areas involved and activity patterns, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is applied to detect variations in activation of neural activity. Objectives: Thus, the objective is to understand the neurophysiological differences between individuals who experience religiosity and the mystical experiences of those without, through the fMRI. Methods: This literature review, collected data in April/2021 on Medline, Pubmed and Science Direct. The descriptors used, after consulting the MeSH, consisted of “neural correlates of religious”, “mystical experience” and “functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)”. Were found 227 articles, after applying the exclusion criteria and fully reading of the abstract, the sample included 6 articles in English, from the last 10 years, available in full text, 2 Medline, 3 Pubmed and 1 Science Direct. Results: The consensus was reached that religiosity can be grounded by neural factors, by applying fMRI to identify patterns of activation of brain regions during mystical experience, although one of the articles refutes these relationships. Correlations are cited by regions: frontal and temporal - emphasis on the dorsolateral and medial/superior prefrontal cortex and bilateral lower parietal lobes, as promoters or impeders of the religious profile in individuals, due to the negative regulation due to lack of excitement, injuries or structural changes. Conclusions: It is concluded that the neurophysiological findings were able to detect patterns that can serve as eligibility criteria between believing and non- believing individuals, which makes their subsequent application feasible for better clarification and neural distinction.