Brain functions unlock door to "mystical" perception: New Zealand-U.S. study

Suppressing brain functions that regulate experiences can open a person up to so-called "mystical experiences," according to a New Zealand-U.S. study out Friday.

The researchers from the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and Wellington's Victoria University examined damage to different parts of the brain on a group of veterans from the Vietnam War who had taken cognitive tests before and after the war.

The research showed that rather than activating a single area in the brain -- referred to as the potential "God spot" -- it was the suppression of the brain's regulating functions that increased the likelihood of mystical experiences.

Mystical experiences -- encounters where people feel they've connected to a higher or greater power leading to increased intelligence or insight -- have been reported all over the world.

Theories relating to what enables the experiences fell broadly into two hotly-disputed camps: push and pull theories.

"Push theories argue that activation of a single God spot causes mystical beliefs, suggesting that injuries to these spots would reduce mysticism," Associate Professor Joseph Bulbulia, of Victoria University, said in a statement.

"In contrast, pull theories argue that the suppression of our inhibitory functions opens up the brain to mystical experiences."

Using brain scan data, the researchers were able to examine how damage to certain parts of the brain affected the likelihood of having a mystical experience.

The study supported the pull theory, as those who had suffered traumatic injury to the God spots were more likely to have mystical experiences.

It suggested the spots might be linked to inhibitory cognitive functions, and suppression of those functions, which typically helped regulate and resolve perceptual experiences, appears to open up a "door of perception," exposing people to more mystical experiences.

The findings could not settle the debate about ultimate reality or whether the experiences were true or false, said Bulbulia. Endit