NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE
By Jeff Fausch
Introduction
One area in paranormal research I find fascinating is the Near Death Experience (NDE). In my opinion, this is one of the few areas within paranormal studies that the scientific community is showing some real interest in. A number of medical professionals from around the world (mainly the USA) are now documenting NDE's and conducting some serious research on this subject. Scientists, of course, are divided whether it is just a chemical reaction in the brain when near death or if the conscious mind somehow lives on after the body dies.
History of Near Death Experience Research
In 1892 Albert Von st. Gallen Hein published a collection of accounts by mountain climbers who had fallen and been injured in the Alps, wounded soldiers, injured workers and individuals who had nearly died. All these people had some type of experience after death. The book "Remarks on Fatal Falls" was translated into English in 1972 and is said by many to be the precursor to the research into modern NDE's.
In 1943, Private George Ritchie, from the US army, died and his body was put in the morgue. As his body was being moved, the orderly saw his hand move. After his revival, his life was completely transformed. Later in life, he became a psychiatrist and would often would speak about his incredible experiences while he was clinically dead.
In 1965, a philosophy student, Dr. Raymond Moody, heard George Ritchie tell his story and became fascinated by the whole subject. While a philosophy lecturer at university, he met a student who told him of his own near death experience. This inspired Dr. Moody to research this phenomena with a great passion. Later, when he was training to be a medical doctor, he met many patients that had been pronounced clinically dead for a period of time before being resuscitated. These people told him what they experienced while being clinically dead. In 1975, Dr. Moody, now a medical doctor, published a book of 150 stories he had gathered titled " Life after Life". This book was a best seller on the phenomenon of near death experiences. It was Dr Moody who actually coined the term "Near Death Experience". Since the publishing of his first book, Dr. Moody has continued his research to this day publishing a number of other books on NDE's.
Since the 1970s, there have been a number of researchers who have become involved in the serious study of Near Death Experiences. Their findings have been very similar. Amongst the current researchers are Dr. Melvin Morse, Dr. PMH Atwater, Dr. Peter Fenwick, Dr. Greysom to name a few.
In 1943, Private George Ritchie, from the US army, died and his body was put in the morgue. As his body was being moved, the orderly saw his hand move. After his revival, his life was completely transformed. Later in life, he became a psychiatrist and would often would speak about his incredible experiences while he was clinically dead.
In 1965, a philosophy student, Dr. Raymond Moody, heard George Ritchie tell his story and became fascinated by the whole subject. While a philosophy lecturer at university, he met a student who told him of his own near death experience. This inspired Dr. Moody to research this phenomena with a great passion. Later, when he was training to be a medical doctor, he met many patients that had been pronounced clinically dead for a period of time before being resuscitated. These people told him what they experienced while being clinically dead. In 1975, Dr. Moody, now a medical doctor, published a book of 150 stories he had gathered titled " Life after Life". This book was a best seller on the phenomenon of near death experiences. It was Dr Moody who actually coined the term "Near Death Experience". Since the publishing of his first book, Dr. Moody has continued his research to this day publishing a number of other books on NDE's.
Since the 1970s, there have been a number of researchers who have become involved in the serious study of Near Death Experiences. Their findings have been very similar. Amongst the current researchers are Dr. Melvin Morse, Dr. PMH Atwater, Dr. Peter Fenwick, Dr. Greysom to name a few.
What is a Near Death Experience?
A Near Death Experience is a distinct experience that some people report after a near-death episode. For the experience to occur, the person is either clinically dead, near death, or in a life-threatening situation that could lead to death. The circumstances could include illness, injury from and accident, millitary combat, suicide attempt, child birth etc. But there have also been reports of people who have been in deep meditation, profound grief or stressful situations that have discribed similar experiences similar to to NDE's even though they were not near death. People who have experienced NDE's have reported two types of experiences. First is the "pleasurable NDE's". These experiences involve mostly feeling love, joy, peace and bliss. THe second is "distressing NDE's. These experiences mostly involve the feeling of terror, horror, anger, isolation and guilt. In both cases the people usually report their experience is hyper - real, even more real than thier earthly lives.
According to the "International Association for Near Death Studies" there are four phases to a "Pleasurable Near Death Experience". In a classical pleasurable NDE the four phases tend to be in a certain order. But it is important to remember that all NDE are uniqure and that the phases can change or even over lap.
DISASSOCIATE PHASE:
The disassociate phase is often the first phase. This is when a person no longer feels associated with their physical body. They feel detached and completely peaceful. They dont hear, see or feel anything in particular. Some report a floating sensation, freedom from pain and complete well-being.
NATURALISTIC PHASE:
This is where the person becomes aware of their "natural surroundings". They have a perspective of their surrounding from outside their body. Most describe what they see as normal but unusually clear and vivid. Some have said they have special abilities such as seeing through walls and hearing the thoughts of people nearby.
SUPERNATURAL PHASE:
This is when the person meets beings and enters an environment not condidered to apart of the "natural world". They may meet deceased relatives or other non-physical beings. They describe communication with these beings as mind-to-mind rather speaking. Some go to beautiful a environment, were objects appear to be lit from within. Sometimes they hear beautiful music that is beyond the psychical world. Most say they move through a tunnel or towards a light. Some discover the light is actually a being. They say that they feel loved by this being. Some say they have a "life-review" of their earthly lives. There are thoughts that pass throught the light, seeing cities of light and knowledge.
RETURN PHASE:
Is when the person returns to their physical body. About half the people choose to return to their bodies because of a connection to loved ones. The other half don't choose to return but are either told or were made to return, or they suddenly found themselves back in their body.
As with life there is a negative to go with the positive. Unfortunately for some people, there is a negative NDE. There are four common types of unpleasant NDEs. The following four types are in order from most common to least common.
POWERLESSNESS TYPE:
Has similar phases as pleasurable phases but they felt powerless while the experience was happening and resisted and were afraid and angry.
NOTHINGNESS TYPE:
The person would feel nothing, as if they didn't exist. Or they would feel completely alone in an eternal void of nothingness.
TORMENT TYPE:
These people say they were in a very scary or angry place. Some times with evil beings, annoying noises, frightening creatures. Some would hear and see other human spirits in great distress.
WORTHLESSNESS TYPE:
Only a few people have described being negatively judged by a higher power.
According to the "International Association for Near Death Studies" there are four phases to a "Pleasurable Near Death Experience". In a classical pleasurable NDE the four phases tend to be in a certain order. But it is important to remember that all NDE are uniqure and that the phases can change or even over lap.
DISASSOCIATE PHASE:
The disassociate phase is often the first phase. This is when a person no longer feels associated with their physical body. They feel detached and completely peaceful. They dont hear, see or feel anything in particular. Some report a floating sensation, freedom from pain and complete well-being.
NATURALISTIC PHASE:
This is where the person becomes aware of their "natural surroundings". They have a perspective of their surrounding from outside their body. Most describe what they see as normal but unusually clear and vivid. Some have said they have special abilities such as seeing through walls and hearing the thoughts of people nearby.
SUPERNATURAL PHASE:
This is when the person meets beings and enters an environment not condidered to apart of the "natural world". They may meet deceased relatives or other non-physical beings. They describe communication with these beings as mind-to-mind rather speaking. Some go to beautiful a environment, were objects appear to be lit from within. Sometimes they hear beautiful music that is beyond the psychical world. Most say they move through a tunnel or towards a light. Some discover the light is actually a being. They say that they feel loved by this being. Some say they have a "life-review" of their earthly lives. There are thoughts that pass throught the light, seeing cities of light and knowledge.
RETURN PHASE:
Is when the person returns to their physical body. About half the people choose to return to their bodies because of a connection to loved ones. The other half don't choose to return but are either told or were made to return, or they suddenly found themselves back in their body.
As with life there is a negative to go with the positive. Unfortunately for some people, there is a negative NDE. There are four common types of unpleasant NDEs. The following four types are in order from most common to least common.
POWERLESSNESS TYPE:
Has similar phases as pleasurable phases but they felt powerless while the experience was happening and resisted and were afraid and angry.
NOTHINGNESS TYPE:
The person would feel nothing, as if they didn't exist. Or they would feel completely alone in an eternal void of nothingness.
TORMENT TYPE:
These people say they were in a very scary or angry place. Some times with evil beings, annoying noises, frightening creatures. Some would hear and see other human spirits in great distress.
WORTHLESSNESS TYPE:
Only a few people have described being negatively judged by a higher power.
Who has Near Death Experiences?
There have been many more reports of NDE's in the last few decades because of medical advancements, meaning more people have been brought back from the brink of death. It estimated that about 12% of people (2006) go through a near death will report an NDE (figures from the USA).
NDE's are experienced by both sexes of all ages from infants to the elderly. People with different levels of education and of all religions have reported NDE's, as well as people with no religious or spiritual beliefs. People, rich or poor, heterosexual or homosexuals. People with life history of good or bad, with or without mental illness. None of these aspects to a person has made it possible to predict who will or won't have an NDE. Or whether it will be pleasurable or distressing.
NDE's are experienced by both sexes of all ages from infants to the elderly. People with different levels of education and of all religions have reported NDE's, as well as people with no religious or spiritual beliefs. People, rich or poor, heterosexual or homosexuals. People with life history of good or bad, with or without mental illness. None of these aspects to a person has made it possible to predict who will or won't have an NDE. Or whether it will be pleasurable or distressing.
Near Death Experiences After Affects
Approximately 80% of people who have experienced an NDE claimed that their lives were changed forever. Not only did they return with a new zest for life and a more spiritual outlook but they were showing evidence of specific psychological and physiological differences on a scale never faced by them. Adults, teenagers and children have experienced these life changes. Different researchers have attempted to profile these changes over recent years. Most without the necessary funding to do clinical studies but most feel there has been enough research done to justify the "after affects" pattern and making of information available.
CHARACTERISTICS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL CHANGES:
> Loss of the fear of death.
> More spiritual and less religious.
> Easily engage in abstract thinking.
> Can go through various bouts with depression.
> More charitable and generous than before.
> Form expansive concepts of love while in the same time challenged to maintain relationships.
> "Inner child" or unsolved issues of childhood tend to surface.
> Less competitive.
> Convinced of life purpose, rejection of previous limitations.
> Heightened sensations of taste and touch and smell.
> Increased intuitive / psychic abilities plus the ability to know or re-live in the future.
> A child-like sense of wonder and joy.
> Less stress.
> More detached and objective.
> Can continue to dissociate or separate from the body.
> Easily absorbed (merge) in whatever is focused on.
> Hunger for knowledge and learning.
> Highly curious.
MAJOR CHARACTERISTICS OF PHYSIOLOGICAL CHANGES:
> Altered thought processing (A switch from sequential / selective thinking to clustered thinking thoughts
bunch together / ideas pop inn)
> Comfortable with ambiguity.
> Heighten intelligences.
> More creative and inventive.
> Unusually sensitive to light and sound.
> More energy, even energy surges in body.
> Reversal of body clock.
> Lower blood pressure.
> Accelerated metabolic rate and substance absorption (decreased tolerance of pharmaceuticals
and chemically treated products)
> Often turn to alternative health care treatments.
> Electrical sensitivity.
> Synesthesia (multiple sensing)
> Increased allergies or sensitivities.
> Ability to heal.
> A preference for more grains and vegetables and less meat.
> Physically younger looking (before and after photos could differ)
CHARACTERISTICS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL CHANGES:
> Loss of the fear of death.
> More spiritual and less religious.
> Easily engage in abstract thinking.
> Can go through various bouts with depression.
> More charitable and generous than before.
> Form expansive concepts of love while in the same time challenged to maintain relationships.
> "Inner child" or unsolved issues of childhood tend to surface.
> Less competitive.
> Convinced of life purpose, rejection of previous limitations.
> Heightened sensations of taste and touch and smell.
> Increased intuitive / psychic abilities plus the ability to know or re-live in the future.
> A child-like sense of wonder and joy.
> Less stress.
> More detached and objective.
> Can continue to dissociate or separate from the body.
> Easily absorbed (merge) in whatever is focused on.
> Hunger for knowledge and learning.
> Highly curious.
MAJOR CHARACTERISTICS OF PHYSIOLOGICAL CHANGES:
> Altered thought processing (A switch from sequential / selective thinking to clustered thinking thoughts
bunch together / ideas pop inn)
> Comfortable with ambiguity.
> Heighten intelligences.
> More creative and inventive.
> Unusually sensitive to light and sound.
> More energy, even energy surges in body.
> Reversal of body clock.
> Lower blood pressure.
> Accelerated metabolic rate and substance absorption (decreased tolerance of pharmaceuticals
and chemically treated products)
> Often turn to alternative health care treatments.
> Electrical sensitivity.
> Synesthesia (multiple sensing)
> Increased allergies or sensitivities.
> Ability to heal.
> A preference for more grains and vegetables and less meat.
> Physically younger looking (before and after photos could differ)
Children and Near Death Experiences
According to the "International Association for Near Death Studies" about 85% of children who experience cardiac arrest have a NDE. With improved resuscitation techniques, many more children are surviving cardiac arrest. So more children who have had NDE's are alive today than ever before and the numbers are likely to keep increasing as medical procedures improve. Youngsters of any age can have a NDE. Very young children, as soon as they can speak, have reported NDE's. There have even been reports of NDE's during the child-birth process.
P.M.H Atwater studied over 270 cases of child NDE's. She found that:
> 76% reported a comforting experience. Such experiences involved up to three elements, nothingness,
friendly voices, a visitation by a loving being, an out-of-body experience and/or the peacefulness of either
a safe place or safe dark place.
> 19% reported a pleasurable place or heaven-like place.
> 3% reported having a distressing or hell-like experience.
> 2% had a translucent experience in which they felt they acquired special knowledge.
WHAT CHANGES TYPICALLY OCCUR IN CHILDREN FOLLOWING AN NDE?
According to the International Association for Near Neath Studies some children show profound changes after an NDE.
Some common changes include:
> Altered biological patterns such as amount of sleep, attentiveness, etc. Increased interest in universal love
rather than love of specific people.
> A lessening of parent/child bonding. The NDE may be less demonstrative of feeling in the family. An
increased sensitivity to others feelings.
> Distress from new reports and violence on TV and in movies.
> Increased interest in being of service to others.
> Increased interest in spirituality.
> Develop hunger for knowledge and anything philosophical which often leads to unusual choices or reading
material for their age.
> Often appear much more mature than children in their age group.
> Difficulty relating to children of their own age.
> Communication with spirits, often labelled by children as angels or guides and by parents as imaginary
friends.
> Increased sensitivity to medications, bright lights and loud noises.
> A strong desire to volunteer for charitable causes.
P.M.H Atwater studied over 270 cases of child NDE's. She found that:
> 76% reported a comforting experience. Such experiences involved up to three elements, nothingness,
friendly voices, a visitation by a loving being, an out-of-body experience and/or the peacefulness of either
a safe place or safe dark place.
> 19% reported a pleasurable place or heaven-like place.
> 3% reported having a distressing or hell-like experience.
> 2% had a translucent experience in which they felt they acquired special knowledge.
WHAT CHANGES TYPICALLY OCCUR IN CHILDREN FOLLOWING AN NDE?
According to the International Association for Near Neath Studies some children show profound changes after an NDE.
Some common changes include:
> Altered biological patterns such as amount of sleep, attentiveness, etc. Increased interest in universal love
rather than love of specific people.
> A lessening of parent/child bonding. The NDE may be less demonstrative of feeling in the family. An
increased sensitivity to others feelings.
> Distress from new reports and violence on TV and in movies.
> Increased interest in being of service to others.
> Increased interest in spirituality.
> Develop hunger for knowledge and anything philosophical which often leads to unusual choices or reading
material for their age.
> Often appear much more mature than children in their age group.
> Difficulty relating to children of their own age.
> Communication with spirits, often labelled by children as angels or guides and by parents as imaginary
friends.
> Increased sensitivity to medications, bright lights and loud noises.
> A strong desire to volunteer for charitable causes.
Electromagnetic Signature and Near Death Experiences
It appears the NDE's has an affect on a person's electromagnetic fingerprint. It is known that dying organisms emit intense amounts electromagnetic energy, or light. Physicist Janusz Slawinki wrote in the journal of "Near Death Studies" found that dying organisms emit a "light shout" more than one-thousand times greater than they're usual resting state. When a cell dies, genetic material begins to unfold as it does at death, a powerful charge of electromagnetic energy is given off. Researchers believe that this light is actually seen by people having an NDE. On rare occasions, it has been reported that light has been seen radiating out of dying people.
It is believed such a charge of electromagnetic energy would have an affect on the body, including the right temporal lobe of the brain. Researchers have found that this part of the brain could be genetically coded to the NDE. This could explain how when the brain is dying, this area of the brain has the energy to function at a higher level than ever before. The right temporal lobe with the complex brain organ Hippocampus makes the human race unique. The area is responsible for complex language, self-confidence, long term planning, day dreams and spiritual thinking. People who lose this part of the brain to brain damage act like zombies.
Research has shown the NDE affects the right side temporal lobe. This is why researchers believe this is why there is such a change in the NDE's attitude, health level, personality and a number of paranormal experiences. A tremendous amount of energy is released during an NDE. It is thought that the energy is released internally and probably reaches its peak when the person is bathed in the "light". Most people cannot describe the light, as it is so powerful. It is thought what they are seeing is their life's energy. Many people see this as God or divine energy. This could be the stage when the right temporal lobe is altered by the experience. The temporal lobe than has profound affect on the structure of various parts of the brain and the electromagnetic field that surrounds the body.
One of the side effects of a NDE is the affect on watches. Dr. Melvin Morse found that one-fourth of an NDE study group, watches mysteriously stopped. These people could not wear a watch without it stopping. After scientifically studying hundreds of NDE cases, Dr. Morse is convinced that the NDE itself changes the electromagnetic forces that surround the body and each and every cell in it. The change then affects such things as personality, anxiety response, abilities to have psychic experiences and the ability in some of these people to wear watches.
It is believed such a charge of electromagnetic energy would have an affect on the body, including the right temporal lobe of the brain. Researchers have found that this part of the brain could be genetically coded to the NDE. This could explain how when the brain is dying, this area of the brain has the energy to function at a higher level than ever before. The right temporal lobe with the complex brain organ Hippocampus makes the human race unique. The area is responsible for complex language, self-confidence, long term planning, day dreams and spiritual thinking. People who lose this part of the brain to brain damage act like zombies.
Research has shown the NDE affects the right side temporal lobe. This is why researchers believe this is why there is such a change in the NDE's attitude, health level, personality and a number of paranormal experiences. A tremendous amount of energy is released during an NDE. It is thought that the energy is released internally and probably reaches its peak when the person is bathed in the "light". Most people cannot describe the light, as it is so powerful. It is thought what they are seeing is their life's energy. Many people see this as God or divine energy. This could be the stage when the right temporal lobe is altered by the experience. The temporal lobe than has profound affect on the structure of various parts of the brain and the electromagnetic field that surrounds the body.
One of the side effects of a NDE is the affect on watches. Dr. Melvin Morse found that one-fourth of an NDE study group, watches mysteriously stopped. These people could not wear a watch without it stopping. After scientifically studying hundreds of NDE cases, Dr. Morse is convinced that the NDE itself changes the electromagnetic forces that surround the body and each and every cell in it. The change then affects such things as personality, anxiety response, abilities to have psychic experiences and the ability in some of these people to wear watches.
Paranormal and Near Death Experiences
Some researchers believe the electromagnetic theory can explain telepathic communications and the seeing of apparitions at the point of death. There is a theory that these two types of experiences represent a person's ability to sense another person's electrical field. This would explain why telepathy usually involves vague perceptions of feelings or indistinct images as opposed to direct readings of thoughts on a literal level. The right temporal lobe is the non-verbal portion of the brain; these perceptions are preserved in a non-verbal way.
Based on the research of Dr. Melvin Morse, he believes that NDE changes a person's electromagnetic force field and greatly clarifies a number of changes that take place in NDEer's. Spontaneous healing, personality transformation, telepathy and out-of -body experiences that become normal to a number of these people. All these events have been linked to the right temporal lobe. Dr. Wilber Penfield, one of founders of modern neuroscience, found that stimulating the temporal lobe of some patients during brain surgery would create a sensation of an out-of-body experience.
A large number of NDEer's in Dr. Melvin's study had encounters with deceased people during their NDE. These included dead relatives, people they knew were dead and people they never even met before. Some met guardian angels in the course of their NDE. Many of the NDEer's said that the guardian's function was to guide them through the tunnel towards the light. A large number of people who experienced a guardian angel during an NDE said they retained contact with the guardian angel after the NDE. Dr Morse found in his study that many NDEer's communicated with their guardian angel in their daily lives, receiving soothing advice during emotional or psychological stress. He was surprised that 12% of the people in the study had regular contact with their guardian angels that they saw during their NDE.
Dr. Morse's transformation study also explored the other mysterious of NDE, such as psychic and pre-cognitive events. He found it was much more common in NDEer's. Many of these had heightened psychic abilities. He was astounded with the number of people that could read minds and could tell what was going to happen before it happened.
Based on the research of Dr. Melvin Morse, he believes that NDE changes a person's electromagnetic force field and greatly clarifies a number of changes that take place in NDEer's. Spontaneous healing, personality transformation, telepathy and out-of -body experiences that become normal to a number of these people. All these events have been linked to the right temporal lobe. Dr. Wilber Penfield, one of founders of modern neuroscience, found that stimulating the temporal lobe of some patients during brain surgery would create a sensation of an out-of-body experience.
A large number of NDEer's in Dr. Melvin's study had encounters with deceased people during their NDE. These included dead relatives, people they knew were dead and people they never even met before. Some met guardian angels in the course of their NDE. Many of the NDEer's said that the guardian's function was to guide them through the tunnel towards the light. A large number of people who experienced a guardian angel during an NDE said they retained contact with the guardian angel after the NDE. Dr Morse found in his study that many NDEer's communicated with their guardian angel in their daily lives, receiving soothing advice during emotional or psychological stress. He was surprised that 12% of the people in the study had regular contact with their guardian angels that they saw during their NDE.
Dr. Morse's transformation study also explored the other mysterious of NDE, such as psychic and pre-cognitive events. He found it was much more common in NDEer's. Many of these had heightened psychic abilities. He was astounded with the number of people that could read minds and could tell what was going to happen before it happened.
Netherlands Study
Pim Van Lommel and his team at the Rijnstate Hospital, in the Netherlands, interviewed 344 patients who were resuscitated after heart failure at ten hospitals across the country. The patients were interviewed as soon as they were well. 18% reported NDE's that involved out-of-body experience, pleasant feelings and seeing a tunnel.
The team found no link between NDE's and drugs used to treat the patients, the duration of cardiac arrest or unconsciousness, or the patients reports of the degree to which they feared death before the NDE.
Pim Van Lommel said, "Its always said the NDE's are just a phenomenon relating to the dying brain and the lack of oxygen to the brain cells. But that's not true. If there was a physiological case, all the patients should have had an NDE".
Most of the patients were mostly elderly with an average age of 62. Van Lommel found that those who reported an NDE were more likely to die within 30 days.
His team questioned surviving NDE patients 2 years later and then after 8 years. Most of the patients recalled the event in striking detail. Most showed psychological changes, the team reported. The 23 NDE who were still alive after 8 years had become more emotionally vulnerable and empathic according to the study.
Christopher French, at the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmith College, London said the teams paper was "intriguing" though he noted that Van Lommel's team failed to contact the patients for corroboration. He pointed out that NDE's were impossible to objectively verify - and that out-of-body experiences have not been proven to exist.
But, in a commentary on the research, "The out-of-body component of the NDE offers probably the best hope of launching any kind of attack on current concepts of the relationship between consciousness and brain function."
The team found no link between NDE's and drugs used to treat the patients, the duration of cardiac arrest or unconsciousness, or the patients reports of the degree to which they feared death before the NDE.
Pim Van Lommel said, "Its always said the NDE's are just a phenomenon relating to the dying brain and the lack of oxygen to the brain cells. But that's not true. If there was a physiological case, all the patients should have had an NDE".
Most of the patients were mostly elderly with an average age of 62. Van Lommel found that those who reported an NDE were more likely to die within 30 days.
His team questioned surviving NDE patients 2 years later and then after 8 years. Most of the patients recalled the event in striking detail. Most showed psychological changes, the team reported. The 23 NDE who were still alive after 8 years had become more emotionally vulnerable and empathic according to the study.
Christopher French, at the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmith College, London said the teams paper was "intriguing" though he noted that Van Lommel's team failed to contact the patients for corroboration. He pointed out that NDE's were impossible to objectively verify - and that out-of-body experiences have not been proven to exist.
But, in a commentary on the research, "The out-of-body component of the NDE offers probably the best hope of launching any kind of attack on current concepts of the relationship between consciousness and brain function."
Scientific Explanations for Near Death Experiences
Carbon-Dioxide
[An article from the National Geographic News.. April 8th 2010]
NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE EXPLAINED?
NDE's are tricks of the mind triggered by an overload of carbon dioxide in the bloodstream, a new study suggests.
Many people who have recovered from life-threatening injures have said they experienced their lives flashing before their eyes, saw bright lights, left their bodies, or encountered angels or dead loved ones.
In the new study, researchers investigated whether different levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide - the main blood gases - play a role in the mysterious phenomenon.
The team studied 52 heart attack patients who had been admitted to three major hospitals and were eventually resuscitated. Eleven of the patients reported a NDE.
During cardiac arrest and resuscitation, blood gases such as CO2 rise and fall because of the lack of circulation and breathing.
"We found in those patients who experienced the phenomenon, blood-dioxide levels were significantly higher than in those who did not," said team leader Zalika Klemenc-Ketis, of the University of Maribor in Slovenia.
(Related: "Creepy 'Shadow Person' Effect Conjured by Brain Shocks")
CO2 Only Common Factor in Near Death Experiences.
Other factors, such a patient's sex, age, or religious beliefs - or the time it took to review them - had no bearing on whether the patients reported near death experiences.
The drugs used during initial treatment - suggested explanation for near-death experiences after heart attacks - also didn't seem to correlate with the sensations according to the study authors.
How carbon dioxide might actually interact with the brain to produce near death sensations was beyond the scope of the study, so for now, "the exact pathophysiological mechanism for this is not known", Klemenc-Ketis said.
However people who have inhaled excess carbon dioxide or have been at high altitudes, which can raise the bloods CO2 concentration, have been known to have sensations similar to near death experiences, she said (related "High Altitude Suits keep pressure on pilots)
Their study is amongst the first to find a direct link between carbon-dioxide and near death experiences, or NDE's said Christopher French, a psychologist at the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit of the University of London, who was not involved in the new research.
By James Owen.
NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE EXPLAINED?
NDE's are tricks of the mind triggered by an overload of carbon dioxide in the bloodstream, a new study suggests.
Many people who have recovered from life-threatening injures have said they experienced their lives flashing before their eyes, saw bright lights, left their bodies, or encountered angels or dead loved ones.
In the new study, researchers investigated whether different levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide - the main blood gases - play a role in the mysterious phenomenon.
The team studied 52 heart attack patients who had been admitted to three major hospitals and were eventually resuscitated. Eleven of the patients reported a NDE.
During cardiac arrest and resuscitation, blood gases such as CO2 rise and fall because of the lack of circulation and breathing.
"We found in those patients who experienced the phenomenon, blood-dioxide levels were significantly higher than in those who did not," said team leader Zalika Klemenc-Ketis, of the University of Maribor in Slovenia.
(Related: "Creepy 'Shadow Person' Effect Conjured by Brain Shocks")
CO2 Only Common Factor in Near Death Experiences.
Other factors, such a patient's sex, age, or religious beliefs - or the time it took to review them - had no bearing on whether the patients reported near death experiences.
The drugs used during initial treatment - suggested explanation for near-death experiences after heart attacks - also didn't seem to correlate with the sensations according to the study authors.
How carbon dioxide might actually interact with the brain to produce near death sensations was beyond the scope of the study, so for now, "the exact pathophysiological mechanism for this is not known", Klemenc-Ketis said.
However people who have inhaled excess carbon dioxide or have been at high altitudes, which can raise the bloods CO2 concentration, have been known to have sensations similar to near death experiences, she said (related "High Altitude Suits keep pressure on pilots)
Their study is amongst the first to find a direct link between carbon-dioxide and near death experiences, or NDE's said Christopher French, a psychologist at the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit of the University of London, who was not involved in the new research.
By James Owen.
REM Disorder Causes Near Death Experiences
A study from the University of Kentucky in Lexington has gained the attention of the scientific community as a possible explanation for NDEs. The study has theorized that the NDE phenomenon is a type of "REM" disorder (Rapid Eye Moment). According to the study, they say a person's mind can wake up before the body does and hallucinations and feelings of being physically detached from the body can occur. The Kentucky study believes that the NDE's are actually REM intrusions triggered by the brain during a traumatic situation like cardiac arrest. They think if this is to be true that could mean the experience of some individuals following a NDE is a confusion from suddenly and unexpectedly entering a dream-like state.
The study believes the theory helps explain the mysterious aspects of a NDE. How people can experience sights, sounds after the brain is considered to be dead? The area where REM intrusion is triggered from is in the "brain-stem" - this region controls the most basic body functions and can operate independent from the higher brain. So, even if the higher brain is considered to be dead, the brain stem can conceivably continue to function and REM intrusion could still function. During a crisis that occurs with REM intrusion, this lack of muscle tone could reinforce an individuals sense of being dead and convey the impression of death to other people.
The study believes the theory helps explain the mysterious aspects of a NDE. How people can experience sights, sounds after the brain is considered to be dead? The area where REM intrusion is triggered from is in the "brain-stem" - this region controls the most basic body functions and can operate independent from the higher brain. So, even if the higher brain is considered to be dead, the brain stem can conceivably continue to function and REM intrusion could still function. During a crisis that occurs with REM intrusion, this lack of muscle tone could reinforce an individuals sense of being dead and convey the impression of death to other people.
My Personal Thoughts on Near Death Experiences
The first thing I would like to say is that NDE's are unique within paranormal studies because this subject is largely studied by researchers with in scientific and medical fields. These appear the two main groups that are attempting to prove or disprove the NDE phenomenon. It appears that a number of professionals in the medical field, usually doctors who believe that consciousness can detach from a dying body. NDE research was kick-started by a medical doctor, Dr. Raymond Moody, in the mid 1970s. I believe some medical professionals take NDE's seriously because they work very closely with the patients and on many occasions are the ones who resuscitate them and, in many cases, are the first to hear the NDE's from the patients. On the other hand, there are others within the scientific community that believe that the phenomenon may appear real to the patient but is an electrical or chemical reaction in the brain that creates the hallucinations described in NDE's, when the the brain and body is threatened with a critical life threatening situation.
I believe that the theories put forward by the International Association of Near Death Studies, who believe that consciousness is able to leave a dying body, the REM intrusion studies and the overload of carbon-dioxide in the blood stream studies are not wrong. These theories tell us how but none of the theories are able to tell us why. The REM intrusion study and carbon-dioxide studies give us clues to parts of the puzzle but leave us with many unexplained questions.
I found an example of this in an article I read. A Swiss neurologist, Dr. Olaf Blanke, was trying to find the cause for 43 year old women's epileptic seizures. He conducted a brain mapping test using electrodes planted in the brain to determine which areas of the brain controls function. As one region was being stimulated, the woman had a sudden out-of-body experience. She told Dr. Blanke that she could see herself from above. Dr. Blanke found by stimulating the woman's "angular gyrus" - a part of the temporal parietal junction - he could induce her out-body-experiences. What was remarkable is that the woman experienced the out-body-experience each time her angular gyrus was stimulated.
The brain is bombarded with information all the time - as a result we become desensitized to our environment. The "temporal parietal junction (TPJ) is responsible for sorting through this environmental information and putting it together into a coherent package. The TPJ also happens to be the region of the brain that controls our comprehension of our own body and its place in space. Dr. Blanke believes a misfiring of this region of the brain could be responsible for out-body-experiences. If any of the information sorted by the TPJ becomes crossed or confused, like where we are in space, then we could seemingly be released from our body even if only for a moment or two.
Most aspects of a NDE can be explained by REM intrusion triggered by the brain stem or an overload of carbon-dioxide (blood gases) in the blood stream. But out-of-body experiences are controlled by the higher brain, which is clinically dead when NDEs occur. This leaves us with the question: how could a person have an out-of-body experience, see their own body, even others standing around their body when the higher brain is clinically dead? Also, the higher functioning brain should be functioning to interpret the sensations being produced by the REM intrusion triggering in the brain stem. But how can the higher brain do this if it is clinically dead? This a bit like the eternal question, what came first the chicken or the egg?
So, combining Dr. Blanke's OBE study the REM intrusion and the overload of carbon-dioxide in the blood system studies, they explain most affects of a NDE separately but don't work all that well together. So there are still many more questions to be answered. But science will continue studying and debating this mysterious phenomenon. The way science usually works is research in one area leads to breakthroughs in another.
So, hypothetically, if consciousness leaves the body at death where does it actually go? Thousands of people have experienced a NDE, some experienced a positive experience, some not. But for nearly every NDEer it will be a life changing experience.
What is this place that NDEers experience and why does it appear so different to each NDEer? Is this "place" a blank canvas that is created by the consciousness of each individual as they pass into it? There is a movie titled "What Dreams May Come" starring Robin Williams and Cuba Gooding Jr. that used this theme in the film. But at this stage it is not for us mere mortals to solve the NDE puzzle just yet.
But thanks to medical science, more people are being resuscitated from the brink of death to tell us that there could be something special waiting for us when our time on earth has passed.
I believe that the theories put forward by the International Association of Near Death Studies, who believe that consciousness is able to leave a dying body, the REM intrusion studies and the overload of carbon-dioxide in the blood stream studies are not wrong. These theories tell us how but none of the theories are able to tell us why. The REM intrusion study and carbon-dioxide studies give us clues to parts of the puzzle but leave us with many unexplained questions.
I found an example of this in an article I read. A Swiss neurologist, Dr. Olaf Blanke, was trying to find the cause for 43 year old women's epileptic seizures. He conducted a brain mapping test using electrodes planted in the brain to determine which areas of the brain controls function. As one region was being stimulated, the woman had a sudden out-of-body experience. She told Dr. Blanke that she could see herself from above. Dr. Blanke found by stimulating the woman's "angular gyrus" - a part of the temporal parietal junction - he could induce her out-body-experiences. What was remarkable is that the woman experienced the out-body-experience each time her angular gyrus was stimulated.
The brain is bombarded with information all the time - as a result we become desensitized to our environment. The "temporal parietal junction (TPJ) is responsible for sorting through this environmental information and putting it together into a coherent package. The TPJ also happens to be the region of the brain that controls our comprehension of our own body and its place in space. Dr. Blanke believes a misfiring of this region of the brain could be responsible for out-body-experiences. If any of the information sorted by the TPJ becomes crossed or confused, like where we are in space, then we could seemingly be released from our body even if only for a moment or two.
Most aspects of a NDE can be explained by REM intrusion triggered by the brain stem or an overload of carbon-dioxide (blood gases) in the blood stream. But out-of-body experiences are controlled by the higher brain, which is clinically dead when NDEs occur. This leaves us with the question: how could a person have an out-of-body experience, see their own body, even others standing around their body when the higher brain is clinically dead? Also, the higher functioning brain should be functioning to interpret the sensations being produced by the REM intrusion triggering in the brain stem. But how can the higher brain do this if it is clinically dead? This a bit like the eternal question, what came first the chicken or the egg?
So, combining Dr. Blanke's OBE study the REM intrusion and the overload of carbon-dioxide in the blood system studies, they explain most affects of a NDE separately but don't work all that well together. So there are still many more questions to be answered. But science will continue studying and debating this mysterious phenomenon. The way science usually works is research in one area leads to breakthroughs in another.
So, hypothetically, if consciousness leaves the body at death where does it actually go? Thousands of people have experienced a NDE, some experienced a positive experience, some not. But for nearly every NDEer it will be a life changing experience.
What is this place that NDEers experience and why does it appear so different to each NDEer? Is this "place" a blank canvas that is created by the consciousness of each individual as they pass into it? There is a movie titled "What Dreams May Come" starring Robin Williams and Cuba Gooding Jr. that used this theme in the film. But at this stage it is not for us mere mortals to solve the NDE puzzle just yet.
But thanks to medical science, more people are being resuscitated from the brink of death to tell us that there could be something special waiting for us when our time on earth has passed.
References:
How stuff works "Has Science explained life after death. (www.science.howstuffworks.com/science)
PFI Newsletter No.8 2006 "Near Death Experiences. Pages 2-7 by Jeff Fausch
International Association of Death Studies. (IANDS) website.
Transformed by the Light by Dr. Melvin Morse MD & Paul Terry: Published 1992 by Judy Piatkus.
Wikipedia - Near Death Experiences.
National Geographic New 2010 Near Death Experience Explained?
How stuff works "Has Science explained life after death. (www.science.howstuffworks.com/science)
PFI Newsletter No.8 2006 "Near Death Experiences. Pages 2-7 by Jeff Fausch
International Association of Death Studies. (IANDS) website.
Transformed by the Light by Dr. Melvin Morse MD & Paul Terry: Published 1992 by Judy Piatkus.
Wikipedia - Near Death Experiences.
National Geographic New 2010 Near Death Experience Explained?