A strong personal relationship with God is theoretically and empirically associated with an enhanced sense of control. While a growing body of research is focused on understanding the neural mechanisms underlying religious belief, little is known about the brain basis of the link between a personal relationship with God and sense of control. Here, we used a sample of patients with focal brain lesions (N = 84) and matched healthy controls (N = 22) to determine whether damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC)-a region associated with emotionally meaningful religious experiences and with sense of control-will modulate self-reports of a personal relationship with God and sense of control. We also examined potential mediators for these associations. Voxel-based lesion symptom mapping revealed that damage to the right vmPFC resulted in a stronger personal relationship with God, and patients with damage to this region demonstrated an increased sense of control relative to patients with damage to posterior cortex and healthy controls. Moreover, the association between vmPFC damage and greater perceived sense of control was mediated by a stronger personal relationship with God. Collectively, these results suggest that a strong personal relationship with God can serve an important psychological function by affecting sense of control, with both enhanced following damage to the right vmPFC.

中文翻译：

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与上帝的个人关系和控制感的神经基础：病变映射研究。

与上帝建立牢固的个人关系在理论上和经验上都与增强的控制感有关。虽然越来越多的研究专注于理解宗教信仰背后的神经机制，但人们对与上帝的个人关系与控制感之间联系的大脑基础知之甚少。在这里，我们使用了具有局灶性脑损伤的患者（N = 84）和匹配的健康对照（N = 22）的样本来确定腹内侧前额叶皮层 (vmPFC) 的损伤是否与具有情感意义的宗教体验和感官体验相关。控制意志调节与上帝的个人关系和控制感的自我报告。我们还检查了这些关联的潜在调解人。基于体素的病变症状映射显示，右侧 vmPFC 的损伤导致与上帝更紧密的个人关系，并且与后皮质损伤的患者和健康对照相比，该区域受损的患者表现出更强的控制感。此外，vmPFC 损伤与更强的控制感之间的关联是通过与上帝更牢固的个人关系来调节的。总的来说，这些结果表明，与上帝建立牢固的个人关系可以通过影响控制感来发挥重要的心理功能，同时增强对正确 vmPFC 的以下损伤。vmPFC 损伤与更强的控制感之间的关联是通过与上帝更牢固的个人关系来调节的。总的来说，这些结果表明，与上帝建立牢固的个人关系可以通过影响控制感来发挥重要的心理功能，同时增强对正确 vmPFC 的以下损伤。vmPFC 损伤与更强的控制感之间的关联是通过与上帝更牢固的个人关系来调节的。总的来说，这些结果表明，与上帝建立牢固的个人关系可以通过影响控制感来发挥重要的心理功能，同时增强对正确 vmPFC 的以下损伤。