Consciousness and Religious Cognition
![Kundalini](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/b81336_e862654508ac4ca0a670fc9113922fd9~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_205,h_267,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/b81336_e862654508ac4ca0a670fc9113922fd9~mv2.jpg)
![fMRI of Kundalini](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/b81336_9cb7ce2023cc4590b39e9bb37dba8873~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_557,h_289,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/b81336_9cb7ce2023cc4590b39e9bb37dba8873~mv2.jpg)
fMRI of Kundalini meditation ecstasy
“Left prefrontal cortex [primarily in left Brodmann׳s areas (BAs) 46 and 10, but also extending into BAs 11, 47, and 45] associated with this experience.”
Modestino, E. J. (2016). Neurophenomenology of an altered state of consciousness: An fMRI case study. EXPLORE: The Journal of Science & Healing, 12(2), 128–135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2015.12.004
rs-fcMRI of Experiential and Doctrinal religious knowledge categorization in PD
![fcMRI of Doctrinal and Experiential Religious Knowledge](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/b81336_a2d0bc1587fd45ee83d5cc19670d5694~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_704,h_286,al_c,lg_1,q_80,enc_auto/b81336_a2d0bc1587fd45ee83d5cc19670d5694~mv2.jpg)
![Religious Doctrines](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/b81336_b4524a9ac99a4fc397667b4bb901a956~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_217,h_220,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/b81336_b4524a9ac99a4fc397667b4bb901a956~mv2.png)
“FIGURE 1. Neuroimaging: Experiential and Doctrinal religious knowledge categorizaton and associated resting-state functional connectivity networks (with bilateral nucleus accumbens seeds) in patients with Parkinson's disease (N = 14; 10 ROPD, 4 LOPD) on-medication. On the left (A) is a composite group image of the right hemisphere including a blue cluster in the frontal lobe [with a peak in the pars opercularis of the inferior frontal gyrus (MNI305: 39.2, 9.2, 11.5) within Brodmann areas (BAs) 10, 46, 9, and 44, cluster size: 3712.54 mm2, p = 0.0001] of negative correlation associated with experiential religious classification and a yellow cluster in the temporal lobe [with a peak in the parahippocampal gyrus (MNI305: 31.4, −23.3, −24.9) within BA 20, cluster size:1725.59 mm2, p = 0.0032] of positive correlation associated with doctrinal religious classification. On the right (B) is a group image of the left hemisphere showing a blue cluster in the frontal lobe [with a peak in the rostral middle frontal region (MNI305: −36.5, 52.8, 0.9) within BAs 46 and 9, cluster size 2245.68 mm2, p = 0.0007] of negative correlation associated with experiential religious classification and a yellow cluster in the occipital lobe [with a peak in the lateral occipital lobe (MNI305: −20.4, −91.2, 14.2) within BAs 17 and 18, cluster size: 1437.22 mm2, p = 0.0184] of positive correlation also associated with experiential religious classification. All results were obtained using one group one covariate intercept/offset difference analysis within the GLM in FreeSurfer.”
Modestino, E.J., O’Toole, P., & Reinhofer, A. (2016). Experiential and doctrinal religious knowledge categorization in Parkinson’s disease: Behavioral and brain correlates. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00113