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Published online 30 August 2006 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news060828-3

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Nuns go under the brain scanner

Imaging study shows that godly experiences trigger a network within the brain.

Neuroscientists have identified a network of brain regions activated when nuns feel that they are at one with God. Artificially stimulating the brain in this way, they say, might allow people to have mystical experiences without believing in God themselves.

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