Where is God? A comparison of the neural correlates of mystical and religious praying

Praying to a God perceived as immanent (inside oneself) versus transcendent (outside oneself) activates different brain regions. In a comparison of brain scans, Christians praying to a transcendent God showed thalamus activation, whereas practitioners of Sahaja Yoga Meditation praying to an immanent God showed thalamus deactivation. The thalamus relays sensory information, so its deactivation during immanent prayer likely reflects reduced attention to external stimuli to focus inward, while its activation during transcendent prayer may support a perceived dialogue with an external divine presence.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The perception of God can be as a transcendent entity that is infinite and outside of human beings, typical for religious traditions, or as an immanent entity that is outside and inside of human beings, typical for mystical traditions. These different perceptions of God may be associated with different neural correlates depending on which God we pray to. To elucidate the neural correlates of these different perceptions of the divine, we compared fMRI activation during praying between 18 Christians and 16 practitioners of Sahaja Yoga Meditation, characterised by transcendent and immanent perceptions of God, respectively. The thalamus was deactivated during praying in Meditators relative to Christians. Due to the sensory relay function of thalamus, the thalamic deactivation in meditators presumably reflects a reduction in the perception of external stimuli in order to focus on the internal perception of an immanent God, while the activation of the thalamus in Christian prayers could be associated with the dialogue with an externally perceived transcendent God.