EC Neurology

Review Article Volume 17 Issue 5 - 2025

The Human Brain is a Receptor for the "Waves" of God

Amadeo Muntané Sánchez*

PhD in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Barcelona and Specialist in Radiodiagnosis and Neuroradiology at Bellvitge University Hospital and Graduated in Religious Sciences from the University of Navarra, Spain

*Corresponding Author: Amadeo Muntané Sánchez, PhD in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Barcelona and Specialist in Radiodiagnosis and Neuroradiology at Bellvitge University Hospital and Graduated in Religious Sciences from the University of Navarra, Spain.
Received: March 18, 2025; Published: April 07, 2025



The theme of mystical experience has been addressed in numerous works. Normally, mystical experience is defined in a general way as a state of ineffable feeling, so that the one who experiences such a situation is unable to verbally convey its importance and content, providing a glimpse of the vast omnipresence that underlies all reality.

The aim of this paper is to make as detailed a classification as possible of the concept of "mystical experience" and its relationship with brain activity.

On the other hand, an attempt is made to debate through reasonable arguments a unique aspect of the human brain: the potentiality it possesses for the necessary being (God) to act in this complex organ and at the same time promote its capacity to transcend with the participation of the human person.

 Keywords: Human Brain; Receptor; "Waves" of God

  1. J Martín Velasco. “The mystical phenomenon. Comparative study”. Trotta (2009).
  2. Sesé J Mística. “Dictionary of St. Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer”. Editorial Monte Carmelo (2014).
  3. A Muntané., et al. “The brain. The neurological and the transcendental”. EUNSA (2008).
  4. Otto R. “The holy, the rational and the irrational in the idea of God”. Alianza Editorial, Madrid (1996).
  5. A Muntané., et al. “The brain. The neurological and the transcendental”. EUNSA (2008).
  6. Akira Ogata and Taihei Miyakawa. “Religious experiences in epileptic patients with focus on ictus-related episodes”. Psychiatry Clinical Neuroscience3 (1998): 321-325.
  7. T Labbé Atenas., et al. “Resonancia magnética funcional: principios básicos y aplicaciones en neurociencias”. Radiología5 (2018): 368-377.
  8. M Beauregard and V Paquette. “Neural correlates of a mystical experience in Carmelite nuns”. Neuroscience Letters3 (2006): 186-190.
  9. Schjoedt U., et al. “Highly religious participants recruit areas of social cognition in personal prayer”. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 2 (2009): 199-207.
  10. Azari NP., et al. “Neural correlates of religious experience”. European Journal of Neuroscience8 (2001): 1649-1652.
  11. Agencia de Evaluación de Tecnologías Sanitarias (AETS) Instituto de Salud Carlos III - Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo. “Tomografía por emisión de positrones con fluordeoxiglucosa (FDG-PET) en Neurología”. Madrid: AETS - Instituto de Salud Carlos III (1999).
  12. Fox KCR., et al. “Functional neuroanatomy of meditation: a review and meta-analysis of 78 functional neuroimaging investigations”. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 65 (2016): 208-228.
  13. Hoelzel BK., et al. “Differential engagement of anterior cingulate and adjacent medial frontal cortex in adept Meditators and non-Meditators”. Neuroscience Letters 1 (2007): 16-21.
  14. Newberg AB and Waldman MR. “How God changes your brain”. Ballantine Books (2009).
  15. Crescentini C., et al. “Virtual lesions of the inferior parietal cortex induce fast changes of implicit religiousness/spirituality”. Cortex 54 (2014): 1-15.
  16. M Persinger. “Neurophysiological basis of God beliefs”. Praeger Publishiers, New York-Londres (1987).
  17. Hamer DH. “The God gene. How faith is hardwired into our genes”. Doubleday, Nueva York (2004).
  18. FJ Rubia. “Religion and the brain”. In F. Díez de Velasco and F. García Bazán (eds.), El estudio de la religion, Madrid, Trotta (2002).
  19. VS Ramachandran. “The Labyrinths of the Brain”. Barcelona, La Liebre de Marzo (2008).
  20. Grafman J., et al. “The neural basis of religious cognition”. Current Directions in Psychological Science2 (2020): 126-133.
  21. Beauregard M and O’Leary D. “The spiritual brain: A neuroscientist’s case for the existence of the soul”. HarperOne/HarperCollins (2007).
  22. Amadeo Muntané Sánchez., et al. “Can neuroscience explain the global functioning of the brain?” Cuadernos de Neuropsicología/Panamerican Journal of Neuropsychology1 (2020): 103-111.
  23. González AL and Moros E. “Introduction, translation and notes De Potentia Dei, question 3 of Thomas Aquinas”. Cuadernos de anuario filosófico (1991).
  24. Moros E. “On divine action in the world”. Science, Reason and Faith Group. University of Navarra (2010).
  25. Justel N and Díaz V. “Brain plasticity: participation in musical training”. Suma Psicológica 2 (2012).
  26. Kleim J and Jones T. “Principles of experience-dependent neural plasticity: Implications for rehabilitation after brain damage”. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing ResearchS1 (2008): 225-239.
  27. Van Der Leeuw G. “Religion in its essence and its manifestations”. Phenomenology of Religion, Paris: Payot (1970): 517-518.

Amadeo Muntané Sánchez. “The Human Brain is a Receptor for the "Waves" of God”. EC Neurology  17.5 (2025): 01-09.