PAIVA, Geraldo José de. The underlying neurology of religious experience: the structure underlying desire. []. , 8, 1, pp.35-38. ISSN 1413-389X.

E. d'Aquili's and A. Newberg's recent writings have proposed some neurophysiological structures as substrate for religious experience. After defining religion as the control of the environment and self-transcendence, the authors have presented two neurophysiological mechanisms essential to religion: the causal operator and the holistic operator, responsible for the perception of causality and for the perception of unity, which generate spiritual causes and mysticism. So, the essential elements of religion would be installed in the brain, independently of cultural variations of religion. This paper has criticized some of d'Aquili's and Newsberg's claims, especially their definition of religion and the stress they have placed on mysticism, and the relationship between religious need and desire

: neurophysiology; neuropsychology; psychology of religion; religious experience.

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