REVIEW article
Front. Neurosci.
Sec. Neuroscience Methods and Techniques
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnins.2025.1587794
A review of the neuroscience of religion: An overview of the field, its limitations, and future interventions
Provisionally accepted
- 1Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, United States
- 2University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
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The neuroscience of religion (NoR), a field that studies various neural mechanisms and functions alongside their correlational relationships with religious phenomena, holds immense potential for development. Standard research methods, including brain imaging techniques and lesion studies, establish relationships between brain functions and religious practices, beliefs, and experiences. Despite increasing interest in this field since the start of the century, NoR has many limitations regarding the technology presently used, particularly in investigating specific aspects of religious behaviors regarding ritualized movements. However, using technologies not presently used in the field, such as functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), along with applying other religious theories, could allow researchers to examine other behaviors, expand their understanding of religion, and bypass current limitations. Therefore, this review paper critically examines NoR, including discussions on methodologies and conclusions from the field, the application of theories of religion currently used, limitations of research methods, the potential incorporation of other theories of religion in the future, and the utilization of other technologies not presently employed in the field, possibly opening new avenues for inquiry and analysis.
Keywords: Neuroscience of religion, brain imaging, Traumatic Brain Injury, Pharmacology, Religious phenomena, Religious theory
Received: 04 Mar 2025; Accepted: 10 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Carvour, Radke and French. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Nathan S French, Miami University, Oxford, 45056, Ohio, United States
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