A neural network for religious fundamentalism derived from patients with brain lesions

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Ferguson, Michael A.; Asp, Erik W.; Kletenik, Isaiah; Tranel, Daniel; Boes, Aaron D.; Nelson, Jenae M.; Schaper, Frederic L. W. V. J.; Siddiqi, Shan; Turner, Joseph I.; Anderson, J. Seth; Nielsen, Jared A.; Bateman, James R.; Grafman, Jordan; Fox, Michael D.
• 署名单位: Harvard University; Harvard University Medical Affiliates; Brigham & Women's Hospital; Harvard Medical School; Harvard University; Harvard University Medical Affiliates; Brigham & Women's Hospital; Harvard Medical School; University of Iowa; Mitchell Hamline School of Law; Mitchell Hamline School of Law; University of Iowa; University of Iowa; University of Iowa; Baylor University; Harvard University; Harvard University Medical Affiliates; Brigham & Women's Hospital; Harvard Medical School; Boston University; Brigham Young University; Wake Forest University; Northwestern University; Feinberg School of Medicine; Northwestern University; Feinberg School of Medicine; Northwestern University; Feinberg School of Medicine; Shirley Ryan AbilityLab
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-10886
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2322399121
• 发表日期: 2024-09-03
• 关键词: environmental-influences; right-hemisphere; anosognosia; authoritarianism; localization; symptoms

摘要

Religious fundamentalism, characterized by rigid adherence to a set of beliefs putatively revealing inerrant truths, is ubiquitous across cultures and has a global impact on society. Understanding the psychological and neurobiological processes producing religious fundamentalism may inform a variety of scientific, sociological, and cultural questions. Research indicates that brain damage can alter religious fundamentalism. However, the precise brain regions involved with these changes remain unknown. Here, we analyzed brain lesions associated with varying levels of religious fundamentalism in two large datasets from independent laboratories. Lesions associated with greater fundamentalism were connected to a specific brain network with nodes in the right orbitofrontal, dorsolateral prefrontal, and inferior parietal lobe. This fundamentalism network was strongly right hemisphere lateralized and highly reproducible across the independent datasets (r = 0.82) with cross- validations between datasets. To explore the relationship of this network to lesions previously studied by our group, we tested for similarities to twenty- one lesion- associated conditions. Lesions associated with confabulation and criminal behavior showed a similar connectivity pattern as lesions associated with greater fundamentalism. Moreover, lesions associated with poststroke pain showed a similar connectivity pattern as lesions associated with lower fundamentalism. These findings are consistent with the current understanding of hemispheric specializations for reasoning and lend insight into previously observed epidemiological associations with fundamentalism, such as cognitive rigidity and outgroup hostility.