Introduction

I have presented evidence in this book that amygdalar, prefrontal, and anterior temporal networks, particularly on the right side, mediate religious experience and core aspects of the sense of Self. The anatomical overlap between religion and Self could be merely fortuitous or it could be functional. I have argued that religion, among many other things, functions, in fact, to construct an executive Self – an autonomous, self-regulating, mature individual. Among its myriad functions, religion can be considered a biocultural system that facilitates maturation of autonomous individual, each of whom is capable of experiencing a unified sense of Self. To that extent, then, religion is an engine that enhances consciousness and self-consciousness in particular.