The measurement of regional cerebral blood flow during glossolalia: A preliminary SPECT study
📄 Original study ↗Plain English Summary
This is the first-ever brain imaging study of speaking in tongues -- and the results are fascinating. Researchers scanned five women during glossolalia (the practice of 'speaking in tongues' during worship) and compared it to gospel singing. The prefrontal cortex, the brain's control center for deliberate decision-making, showed a striking drop in activity on both sides. That lines up perfectly with what practitioners report: a feeling of not being in control of their own speech. Intriguingly, a region linked to spatial awareness lit up instead, which is the opposite of what happens during meditation. So speaking in tongues is genuinely its own neurological beast, distinct from other spiritual practices.
Research Notes
First functional neuroimaging study of glossolalia, offering neural correlates of perceived loss of volitional control during a spiritual practice. Provides comparative data alongside mediumship trance, meditation, and psychedelic neuroimaging research in the library.
Using SPECT neuroimaging, five experienced Charismatic Christian women were scanned during glossolalia (speaking in tongues) and compared with a gospel singing baseline. Glossolalia produced significant bilateral prefrontal decreases (right DLPFC -9.4%, p=0.003; left DLPFC -9.2%, p=0.01) consistent with reduced volitional control, a left caudate decrease (-18.9%, p=0.002), and a left superior parietal increase (+9.7%, p=0.009) distinguishing it from meditation. The authors conclude glossolalia involves complex, measurable changes in cerebral activity distinct from other spiritual practices.
Links
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- Neuroimaging during Trance State: A Contribution to the Study of Dissociation — Peres, Julio Fernando (2012)
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📋 Cite this paper
Newberg, Andrew B, Wintering, Nancy A, Morgan, Donna, Waldman, Mark R (2006). The measurement of regional cerebral blood flow during glossolalia: A preliminary SPECT study. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pscychresns.2006.07.001
@article{newberg_2006_glossolalia,
title = {The measurement of regional cerebral blood flow during glossolalia: A preliminary SPECT study},
author = {Newberg, Andrew B and Wintering, Nancy A and Morgan, Donna and Waldman, Mark R},
year = {2006},
journal = {Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging},
doi = {10.1016/j.pscychresns.2006.07.001},
}