Dreams and Visions: How Religious Ideas Emerge in Sleep and Dreams

by Patrick McNamara Ph.D.

Overview

A standout resource on the emerging field of applying neuropsychology and the latest findings in sleep and dream research to religious experience, this book investigates the proven biological links between REM dreams and religious ideas, covering past and current schools of thought in both the science of dreams and the science of religion.

Across time and around the world, billions of people with highly dissimilar backgrounds and cultures have felt spiritual or religious inspiration that shaped their lives and supplemented their mental strength—and in many cases, this inspiration came via a dream. The "how" and "why" of this common phenomenon is one that science has largely failed to explain. In this book, nationally recognized behavioral neuroscientist Patrick McNamara taps the latest science in sleep and dreams as well as neuropsychology to investigate one facet of the answer from the "inside out"—the human brain's role.

The first study of its kind in an emerging field, Dreams and Visions: How Religious Ideas Emerge in Sleep and Dreams provides a comprehensive summary of past theory and examines the latest science on dreams, REM sleep, cognitive approaches to religion, and neuroscience approaches to religion. Readers will come away with an in-depth understanding of how and why god beliefs and spiritual convictions so often emerge in our dreams. Dedicated sections address special dream types like visitation dreams, nightmares, precognitive dreams, "big" dreams, lucid dreams, paralysis dreams, twin dreams, and more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798216076308
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	09/26/2016
Series:	Brain, Behavior, and Evolution
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	328
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	7 - 17 Years

About the Author

Patrick McNamara, PhD, is associate professor of neurology at Boston University School of Medicine and professor at Northcentral University.
Patrick McNamara is Director of the Evolutionary Neurobehavior Laboratory in the Department of Neurology at Boston University School of Medicine, and the VA New England Healthcare System. He is also Assistant Professor of Neurology at the same sites. He is currently developing an evolutionary approach to problems of brain and behavior, and studying the evolution of the frontal lobes, the two mammalian sleep states (REM and NREM) and the evolution of religion in cultures. He is trained in behavioral neuorscience, neurolinguistics and brain-cognitive correlation techniques. He pioneered investigation of the role of the frontal lobes in mediation of religious experience.

Table of Contents

Series Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Caveats
History of the Religion–Dreams Link
Chapter 1. Dreams That Appear to Yield Direct Perceptual Evidence of a Spirit Realm
Nightmares
Meeting One's Double in a Dream/Nightmare
Visitation Dreams and Spirits
Lucid Dreaming and Religious Consciousness
Precognitive Dreams
False Awakenings and Sleep Paralysis Dreams
REM Parasomnias
Chapter 2. The Anthropology of Dreams and Religion
Chapter 3. Cognitive Processes in Dreams That Produce Religious Ideas
Cognitive Processes in Dreams That Give Rise to Religious Ideas: Supernatural Agents (SAs)
Cognitive Models of Agency
REM Sleep, Emotional Regulation, and Personality Traits
Theory-of-Mind Attributions
REM, Theory of Mind, and the Default Network
Chapter 4. The Neurobiology of REM Is the Core Neurobiology of Religious Experiences
PGO Waves and the Orienting Reaction (OR)
Psychopharmacology of REM Sleep and the Chemistry of Altered States of Consciousness
Overlap with Neurobiology of Religiousness
REM intrusion and Daydreams
REM and the Dopamine Systems
REM-Related Computations of Value and Salience
Chapter 5. Why REM Sleep May Be a Highly Sensitive Perceptual System
A Brief Detour into the Senses
Weak Signals in Dreams
Precognitive Dreams Redux
Twin Dreams and Weak Signals
Is the Information We Get in Dreams Reliable?
Dreamwork, Creativity, and Religious Ideas
Chapter 6. Religiosity and Dream Recall
Non-Dreamers and Religiosity
Sleep Disorders and Religiosity
Dreams in Schizophrenia
Autism
Dreams in the Subgroup of Patients with Parkinson's Disease Who Report Lower Levels of Religiosity
Chapter 7. Implications and Conclusions
Religion, Dreams, and Morality
Is Religion an Adaptation?
Creating Individuals Who Can Cooperate Over the Long Term
Enter Religion
Universality
Effortless Acquisition of Religiousness
Specific Biology
Appendices
Appendix A: A Quick Tour of the Brain Science Relevant for Religion and REM Sleep
Appendix B: How Scientists Study REM and NREM Dreams
Appendix C: Dream Transcripts across a Single Night of Sleep
Appendix D: Dream Transcripts Scored for Agency Changes
Index