A critique of “Neurotheology” and an examination of spatial perception in mystical experience
Acta Neuropsychologica March 25, 2012 David T. Bradford 2 citations
A critique of d'Aquili and Newberg's neurotheology examines its modular view of mental processes and its claims about language, deafferentation, and autonomic and limbic arousal in mystical experience. Neurotheology asserts that a spatial perception of "unified undifferentiated oneness" reveals Absolute Unitary Being (AUB). Comparing this with Buddhist and Vedantic texts yields a phenomenological and neuropsychological description of a distinct mystical spatial perception across three traditions. The analysis concludes that neurotheology is overinclusive in equating all mystical experiences with AUB.