Fabbro Franco, Fabbro Anastasia, Crescentini Cristiano
Department of Medicine, University of Udine, Udine, Italy.
Perceptual Robotics (PERCRO) Laboratory, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy.
Front Psychol. 2018 Jun 28;9:1092. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01092. eCollection 2018.
The present work introduces the neuropsychological paradigm as a new approach to studying ancient literature. In the first part of the article, an epistemological framework for the proper use of neuropsychology in relation to ancient literature is presented. The article then discusses neuropsychological methods of studying different human experiences and dimensions already addressed by ancient literatures. The experiences of human encounters with gods among ancient cultures are first considered, through the contributions of Julian Jaynes and Eric R. Dodds. The concepts of right and left in the Bible, and that of soul are then discussed. Ecstatic experience in Paul of Tarsus is also presented, with a particular focus on glossolalia. Neuroscientific differences between mindful and unitive meditative practices are then described referring to ancient Buddhist literature, and finally a brief description of dreams in ancient Greek literature is proposed. Neuropsychology variously enables a more profound understanding of themes characterizing human experiences that ancient literature has already explored; these investigations prove that the collaboration of neuroscience and humanistic studies can return fruitful and interesting results.
本研究引入神经心理学范式，作为研究古代文学的一种新方法。在文章的第一部分，提出了一个关于在古代文学研究中正确运用神经心理学的认识论框架。接着，文章讨论了研究古代文学已经涉及的不同人类体验和维度的神经心理学方法。首先通过朱利安·杰恩斯和埃里克·R·多兹的贡献，探讨了古代文化中人类与神灵相遇的体验。然后讨论了《圣经》中左右的概念以及灵魂的概念。还介绍了塔尔苏斯的保罗的狂喜体验，特别关注说灵语现象。参照古代佛教文献描述了正念冥想和合一冥想练习的神经科学差异，最后对古希腊文学中的梦境作了简要描述。神经心理学能够以多种方式更深刻地理解古代文学已经探索过的人类体验主题；这些研究证明，神经科学与人文研究的合作能够产生富有成果且有趣的结果。
