2007
DOI: 10.1038/npre.2007.1328.1
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Correlation between Pineal Activation and Religious Meditation Observed by Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Abstract: The human brain possesses plenty of functions but little is known about its scientific relationship with mind and spirit. Conferences^1,2^ focused on the connection between science and religion were held very recently in which neuroscientists, Buddhist scholars and Dalai Lama discussed attention, mental imagery, emotion, mind, brain functions and meditation, suggesting religious meditation offers an effective means to investigate the mystery of mind and spirit. In the past decade, scientists struggled to obtai… Show more

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Cited by 5 publications
(4 citation statements)
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“…Could it be all of the romanticizing and imagery of the heart that leads students to view it as the seat of the soul? There is evidence that emotion can alter cardiovascular output measures (Sinha et al,1992; McCraty et al,1995; Palombau et al,1997; Antonnen and Surakka,2005) and evidence that meditation and religious thinking alters the activity of the pineal gland in the brain (Liou et al,2007). The range of evidence and opinions on the seat of the soul is open to interpretation and more research is required to isolate the role of these organs in emotion and human consciousness.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
See 1 more Smart Citation
“…Could it be all of the romanticizing and imagery of the heart that leads students to view it as the seat of the soul? There is evidence that emotion can alter cardiovascular output measures (Sinha et al,1992; McCraty et al,1995; Palombau et al,1997; Antonnen and Surakka,2005) and evidence that meditation and religious thinking alters the activity of the pineal gland in the brain (Liou et al,2007). The range of evidence and opinions on the seat of the soul is open to interpretation and more research is required to isolate the role of these organs in emotion and human consciousness.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…He identified the pineal gland as the area where the soul exercises its functions immediately, because it was the only area in the brain without a double (Descartes,1650). More recent research on the pineal gland has shown that there is a correlation between pineal gland activation and religious meditation (Liou et al,2007). This has led people to believe that the pineal gland has a special function and could be the home of the soul (Liou et al,2007).…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…(Munoz, 2020). Most probably, the illusion of a superior consciousness is simply due to the biophysical activation of limbic structures during meditation (Liou et al, 2007).…”
Section: "Cartesian-like Dualism" (The 3 Rd Dualism)mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Putting mystical interpretation of pineal function aside, an interesting study (Liou, 2007) has nevertheless reported that the pineal gland, along with the entire corpora quadragemina, had considerably higher activation during meditation practice compared to quiet rest. Increased melatonin levels in meditators have also been observed in several studies (Thambyraja, 2023; Tooley, 2000; Harinath, 2004).…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%