Tuesday Talks

Dr Andrew Newberg

26th April 2022| 7.30pm until 9.00pm  | £6 | Online

ABOUT

Spirituality and the Brain

Have you ever wondered how the brain and spirituality are related? For example, if we have a mystical experience or feel as if we are connecting with God or spirits, what is going on in the brain and does such information tell us something about those experiences? This talk reviews some of the most recent research on the relationship between the brain and various spiritual practices and experiences —a growing field called neurotheology.

With the rapidly expanding field of research exploring religious and spiritual phenomena, there have been many perspectives as to the validity, importance, relevance, and need for such research. This presentation focuses on the physiological and neurobiological studies that have been performed and the potential issues associated with such studies. We will consider both the positive and negative sides of spirituality and religion—when religion makes people charitable and altruistic versus a terrorist.  There is also the ultimate issue of how such research should be interpreted with regard to epistemological questions – what is the true nature of spiritual experiences?

Join us online on the 26th of April for this insightful talk. 

About Dr Andrew Newberg 

Dr. Andrew Newberg is the director of research at the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health and a physician at Jefferson University Hospital. He is board certified in internal medicine and nuclear medicine.

Andrew has been asking questions about reality, truth, and God since he was very young, and he has long been fascinated by the human mind and its complex workings. While a medical student, he met Dr. Eugene d’Aquili, who was studying religious experiences. Combining their interests with Andrew’s background in neuroscience and brain imaging, they were able to break new theoretical and empirical ground on the relationship between the brain and religion.

Andrew’s research now largely focuses on how brain function is associated with various mental states—in particular, religious and mystical experiences. His research has included brain scans of people in prayer, meditation, rituals, and trance states, as well as surveys of people’s spiritual experiences and attitudes. He has also evaluated the relationship between religious or spiritual phenomena and health, and the effect of meditation on memory. He believes that it is important to keep science rigorous and religion religious.

Andrew has also used neuroimaging research projects to study aging and dementia, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, depression, and other neurological and psychiatric disorders.

Find out more about Dr Newberg on his website at http://www.andrewnewberg.com/

Purchase Tickets, Recordings or Season Pass