The Spiritual Brain: Selective Cortical Lesions Modulate Human Self-Transcendence

Damage to specific regions in the left and right inferior posterior parietal cortex can increase self-transcendence, a personality trait linked to spiritual feelings and behaviors. Combining personality assessments before and after neurosurgery with brain-lesion mapping, the authors found that selective damage to these parietal areas induced a specific increase in self-transcendence, suggesting that neural activity in temporoparietal areas can rapidly modulate this normally stable trait. The findings point to an active role of left and right parietal systems in self-transcendence and offer insights into the neurobiological basis of altered spiritual and religious attitudes in neurological and mental disorders.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The predisposition of human beings toward spiritual feeling, thinking, and behaviors is measured by a supposedly stable personality trait called self-transcendence. Although a few neuroimaging studies suggest that neural activation of a large fronto-parieto-temporal network may underpin a variety of spiritual experiences, information on the causative link between such a network and spirituality is lacking. Combining pre- and post-neurosurgery personality assessment with advanced brain-lesion mapping techniques, we found that selective damage to left and right inferior posterior parietal regions induced a specific increase of self-transcendence. Therefore, modifications of neural activity in temporoparietal areas may induce unusually fast modulations of a stable personality trait related to transcendental self-referential awareness. These results hint at the active, crucial role of left and right parietal systems in determining self-transcendence and cast new light on the neurobiological bases of altered spiritual and religious attitudes and behaviors in neurological and mental disorders.