Hyperreligiosity (also known as extreme religiosity) is a psychiatric disturbance in which a person experiences intense religious beliefs or episodes that interfere with normal functioning.
[5] Hyperreligiosity is characterized by an increased tendency to report supernatural or mystical experiences, spiritual delusions, rigid legalistic thoughts,[citation needed] and extravagant expression of piety.
[1] Hyperreligiosity may be associated with epilepsy – in particular temporal lobe epilepsy involving complex partial seizures – mania,[8] frontotemporal lobar degeneration, anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis,[9] hallucinogen-related psychosis[10] and psychotic disorder.
[6] Increased activity in the left temporal regions has been associated with hyperreligiosity in psychotic disorders.
[12] Pharmacological evidence points towards dysfunction in the ventral dopaminergic pathway.