Neural Correlates of Religious Experiences: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Religion and religious beliefs have always been a matter in which great philosophers, thinkers, academicians and researchers have taken great interest since antiquity. A lot many theories have been given different thinkers for development and continuation of religion. After the Industrial Revolution, it was thought that in this modern world religion will slowly and gradually be done away with. However, it is not the case. Many researches have also pointed out to the role of some brain structures in human beings developing religious beliefs and the idea of supernatural being. From philosophical speculations, the focus has now moved to employing scanning techniques to identify brain areas associated with religious experiences.  The paper mentions some of the most sought-after researches in this area and tries to paint a holistic picture. Future suggestion for the readers is to replicate these researches on people who follow non-Abrahamic religions, some Naturalistic type of religions and on Atheists.