15 November 2006
The Neurobiology of Belief:
Why We Believe What We Believe
Andrew Newberg, M.D., Center for Spirituality and the Neurosciences,
University of Pennsylvania
Advances in neuroimaging allow us now to visualize physiologic effects of meditative spiritual and/or specifically religious activity. What do these developments say-or not-about humans' biological propensity to engage in spiritual practices and believe in things spiritual or religious? What can our own neurobiology tell us about human nature, belief and, even, the divine?
Co-presented with the Division of Perceptual Studies
of the Department of Psychiatric Medicine
and the Department of Chaplaincy Services and Pastoral Education