Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
8996619 | Medical Hypotheses | 2005 | 5 Pages |
Abstract
Mystical and religious experiences are important not only to the mystic himself, but also to many followers, as it was indeed with respect to the leaders of the three monotheistic religions. Yet, concerning its subjective character, mystical experiences are almost never accessible to the scholars interested in examining them. The tools of cognitive neuroscience make it possible to approach religious and mystical experiences not only by the semantical analysis of texts, but also by approaching similar experiences in healthy subjects during prolonged stays at high altitude and/or in cognitive paradigms. Cognitive neurosciences, in turn, might profit from the research of mysticism in their endeavor to further our understanding of mechanisms of corporeal awareness and self consciousness.
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Authors
Shahar Arzy, Moshe Idel, Theodor Landis, Olaf Blanke,