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Over at Gene Expression, Razib casts a skeptical eye on a study of the neuroanatomical variability of religiosity.
The brain areas identified in this and the parallel fMRI studies are not unique to processing religion [the study states], but play major roles in social cognition. This implies that religious beliefs and behavior emerged not as sui generis evolutionary adaptations, but as an extension (some would say "by product") of social cognition and behavior.
May be something to that, Razib says — but it would be nice "get in on the game of normal human variation in religious orientation (as opposed to studies of mystical brain states which seem focused on outliers)."
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Just by coincidence, this morning I came across "hyperreligiosity" as one of the symptoms of a specific type of dementia.
It is dementia which is a result of atrophy of the right temporal lobe.
"Symptoms particular to the right temporal lobe atrophy patient group included hyper-religiosity, visual hallucinations and cross-modal sensory experiences.
The combination of clinical features associated with predominant right temporal lobe atrophy differs significantly from those associated with the other syndromes associated with focal degeneration of the frontal and temporal lobes . . . "
Brain 2009 132(5):1287-1298; doi:10.1093/brain/awp037
The clinical profile of right temporal lobe atrophy
Chan, et al.
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Posted by: P. Jennings | October 2, 2009 1:31 PM