Neurophysiological and psychopharmacological approaches to sensory deprivation phenomena

The role of the extrapersonal brain systems in religious activity

The neuropsychology of religious activity in normal and selected clinical populations is reviewed. Religious activity includes beliefs, experiences, and practice. Neuropsychological and functional imaging findings, many of which have derived from studies of experienced meditators, point to a ventral cortical axis for religious behavior, involving primarily the ventromedial temporal and frontal regions. Neuropharmacological studies generally point to dopaminergic activation as the leading neurochemical feature associated with religious activity. The ventral dopaminergic pathways involved in religious behavior most closely align with the action-extrapersonal system in the model of 3-D perceptual-motor interactions proposed by . These pathways are biased toward distant (especially upper) space and also mediate related extrapersonally dominated brain functions such as dreaming and hallucinations. Hyperreligiosity is a major feature of mania, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, temporal-lobe epilepsy and related disorders, in which the ventromedial dopaminergic systems are highly activated and exaggerated attentional or goal-directed behavior toward extrapersonal space occurs. The evolution of religion is linked to an expansion of dopaminergic systems in humans, brought about by changes in diet and other physiological influences.

Sensory deprivation in spinal cord injury--an essay

Due to altered or absent sensation below the level of the lesion, and varying degrees of preserved motor function, the spinal cord patient is limited in his/her ability to increase sensory feedback via interaction with the environment. The sequelae of this in the acute spinal cord patient could be likened to a state of sensory deprivation. Drawing inferences from the sensory deprivation literature of the 1950s and 1960s, in which university students volunteered to be placed in sensory deprivation chambers, is far from accurate. However, the research stimulates thought into the combined effects of immobilization, social isolation, and sensory deprivation-all of which the acute spinal cord patient is likely to experience. This state of sensory deprivation appears to lessen with time, regardless of the persistence of the impairment. The essay hypothesizes that neuroadaptive processes occur and proposes to the use of sensory stimulation, particularly in the spinal intensive care unit, to facilitate this adaptation.