Cognitive and neural foundations of religious belief.

Journal article

We propose an integrative cognitive neuroscience framework for understanding the cognitive and neural foundations of religious belief. Our analysis reveals 3 psychological dimensions of religious belief (God's perceived level of involvement, God's perceived emotion, and doctrinal/experiential religious knowledge), which functional MRI localizes within networks processing Theory of Mind regarding intent and emotion, abstract semantics, and imagery. Our results are unique in demonstrating that specific components of religious belief are mediated by well-known brain networks, and support contemporary psychological theories that ground religious belief within evolutionary adaptive cognitive functions.

Authors: Kapogiannis, D; Barbey, A; Su, M; Zamboni, G; Krueger, F

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
• Volume: 106
• Issue: 12
• Pages: 4876-4881
• Publication date: 2009-03-01
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0811717106
• EISSN: 1091-6490
• ISSN: 0027-8424
• Language: English
• Keywords: Humans; Female; Male; Adult; Cognition; Knowledge; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Nervous System Physiological Phenomena; Religion; Emotions