Candidate genes related to spiritual mediumship: a whole-exome sequencing analysis of highly gifted mediums

There has been a call for neuroscientific studies of spiritual experiences due to their global prevalence, significant impact, and importance for understanding the mind-brain problem. Mediumship is a spiritual experience where individuals claim to communicate with or be influenced by deceased persons or non-material entities. We assessed whether mediums carry specific genetic alterations.

We selected highly gifted mediums (n=54) with over 10 years of experience who engaged in mediumistic work for no material gain, performed whole-exome sequencing of these individuals, and compared its findings to those of first-degree relatives who claimed no mediumship (n=53).

We identified 15,669 variants exclusively found in mediums, likely to impact the function of 7,269 genes. Thirty-three of these genes were altered in at least one-third of all mediums but in none of their relatives. The inflammatory pathway was the most frequently affected (43.9%), with the translocation of zeta-chain associated protein kinase 70 kDa (ZAP-70) to the immunological synapse being particularly prominent.

This is the first exome-wide investigation of genes possibly related to mediumistic experiences. We identified gene variants that were present in mediums but not in their non-medium first-degree relatives. These genes emerge as possible candidates for further investigations of the biological underpinnings that allow spiritual experiences such as mediumship.