Neural network involvement for religious experiences in worship measured by EEG microstate analysis

IF 1.7 4区医学 Q4 NEUROSCIENCES

Social Neuroscience Pub Date : 2022-05-04 DOI:10.1080/17470919.2022.2083228

Yoshija Walter, T. Koenig

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引用次数: 5

Abstract

ABSTRACT Not much is known about large-scale brain activation patterns in religious states of mind and previous studies have not set an emphasis on experience. The present study investigated the phenomenon of religious experiences through microstate analysis, and it was the first neurocognitive research to tackle the dimension of experience directly. Hence, a total of 60 evangelical Christians participated in an experiment where they were asked to engage in worship and try to connect with God. With a bar slider, people were able to continuously rate how strongly they sensed God’s presence at any given moment. A selection of songs was used to help in the induction of the desired experience. With 64 electroencephalography (EEG) electrodes, the brain activity was assessed and analyzed with five clusters of microstate classes. First, we hypothesized that the neural network for multisensory integration was involved in the religious experience. Second, we hypothesized that the same was true for the Default Mode Network (DMN). Our results suggested an association between the auditory network and the religious experience, and an association with the salience network as well as with the DMN. No associations with the network thought to be involved with multisensory integration was detected.

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脑电微态分析测量礼拜中宗教体验的神经网络涉入

人们对宗教精神状态下的大规模大脑激活模式知之甚少，而且以前的研究也没有把重点放在体验上。本研究通过微观状态分析对宗教体验现象进行了研究，这是第一个直接处理体验维度的神经认知研究。因此，共有60名福音派基督徒参加了一项实验，他们被要求参与敬拜并试图与上帝建立联系。通过一个滑动条，人们能够持续地评估他们在任何给定时刻感受到上帝存在的强烈程度。一组歌曲被用来帮助诱导期望的体验。利用64个脑电电极，用5个微状态类簇对脑活动进行评估和分析。首先，我们假设多感觉整合的神经网络参与了宗教体验。其次，我们假设默认模式网络(DMN)也是如此。我们的研究结果表明，听觉网络和宗教体验之间存在关联，并且与突出网络和DMN之间存在关联。没有发现与被认为与多感觉整合有关的网络有关联。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Social Neuroscience 医学-神经科学

CiteScore

3.40

自引率

5.00%

发文量

审稿时长

6-12 weeks

期刊介绍： Social Neuroscience features original empirical Research Papers as well as targeted Reviews, Commentaries and Fast Track Brief Reports that examine how the brain mediates social behavior, social cognition, social interactions and relationships, group social dynamics, and related topics that deal with social/interpersonal psychology and neurobiology. Multi-paper symposia and special topic issues are organized and presented regularly as well. The goal of Social Neuroscience is to provide a place to publish empirical articles that intend to further our understanding of the neural mechanisms contributing to the development and maintenance of social behaviors, or to understanding how these mechanisms are disrupted in clinical disorders.