Neuroscience is the study of the nervous system, including the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral systems. As a discipline, it reached maturity only in the twentieth century. Developments in brain-scanning technologies, in particular, have revolutionized neuroscience, and it can only be expected that the existing and growing body of literature will continue to expand. As neuroscience develops, its findings are increasingly seen to have implications for religious worldviews and the study of religion.

History

Awareness of the nervous system and its role in the human body dates back at least to the Roman physician Galen (third century BCE), who understood movement to be controlled by the nerve cords extending through the body. By the end of the eighteenth century, the major anatomical features of the brain were known, as well as the central relationship of mind and brain. This knowledge was most famously reflected in the...