Near Death Experience

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Near Death Experience

• People who come close to death and later revive
  sometimes report memories of unusual experiences
  they had while apparently unconscious. These
  memory accounts are often said to be
  recollections of near death experiences (NDEs).
  

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Near Death Experience

• John Moody M.D. coined this term in 1975, also
  known as the Lazarus complex
• Moody thought of it as a profound spiritual
  experience
• Moody described 15 key features Ineffability,
  Hearing oneself pronounced dead, Feelings of
  quiet and peace, Hearing unusual noises

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NDE Features Contd.

• Seeing a dark tunnel, Being outside of ones
  body, usually looking down on your body from
  above, Meeting spiritual beings or entities,
  Experiencing a bright light often as a being of
  light, Panoramic life review, Experiencing a
  realm in which all knowledge exists

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NDE Features Contd.

• Experiencing cities of light, Experiencing a
  realm of bewildered spirits, Experiencing a
  supernatural rescue, Sensing a border or limit,
  Coming back into ones body often reluctantly.
• No one NDE experience has had more than 12 of
  these 15, NDEs are never exactly alike, no one
  element was common to all NDEs, the order in
  which events occur varied from one experience to
  another

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NDE Aftereffects

• Frustration relating the experience to others
• Subtle broadening and deepening of ones life
  perspective
• Elimination of fear of death
• Belief in corroboration of events witnessed while
  outside of ones body

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Other Differences

• The NDE of children is similar to that of adults
  except for lack of the panoramic life review nor
  any meetings with deceased loved ones or friends

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NDE Percentages

• About 1/4 of NDEs report a passage through
  darkness which takes the form of a tunnel moving
  towards a distant light
• Almost 1/3 involve the appearance of a brilliant
  light frequently golden in hue
• Nearly 1/2 report an encounter with a presence
  described as nurturing, supportive and
  comforting, sometimes felt more than seen, often
  takes the form of a religious figure such as
  Christ or a being of light

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NDE Percentages

• No children and only 1/4 of adults have a life
  review
• Most NDEs end abruptly and suddenly with the
  person awakening, sometimes a figure indicates
  the experience is over and telling them to return
  to their body

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Cultural Differences

• The life review and tunnel sensations are
  primarily reported by Christians Buddhists but
  are rare among Native Americans of America,
  Australia and the Pacific Islands
• Indians report being escorted to another world by
  spirit messengers and confronted by a man with a
  book, Yama Lord of the Dead, who discovers that
  an error has been made in bringing the informant
  there and is sent back to life by the messengers
  or by deceased relatives.
• But OBE is rare here, the panoramic life review
  unknown

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• Recent studies have revealed that many people who
  are brought close to death through injury and
  illness do not report NDEs after being revived.
  Estimates of the proportion of those who have
  been near death and recounted NDEs range from 7
  to 72 this variance may be explained in part by
  the reluctance of some survivors to admit that
  they remember an NDE. Compared to others, people
  who report NDEs are more likely to state that
  they had experienced CHILDHOOD TRAUMA they also
  tend to display a capacity for ABSORPTION,
  FANTASY PRONENESS and HYPNOTIZABILITY.

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NDE Predictors

• No strong predictors, several weak but positive
  correlates NDE experients tend to be better
  hypnotic subjects, can remember their dreams more
  often than average, more adept at using mental
  imagery, have greater tendencies towards
  absorption, fantasy proneness. Small positive
  correlations between latter two and depth of
  the experience.

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• Several studies have confirmed that certain
  elements occur commonly in NDEs. These elements
  are sometimes described as stages, which is
  misleading as they do not happen in every NDE and
  do not always occur in the same order. The most
  common element, recalled by a majority of
  informants, is a feeling of calmness and joy.
  Another feature noted by at least half of the
  informants in most studies is an OUT OF BODY
  EXPERIENCE.

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• Dying persons can suddenly find themselves
  observing their physical bodies from an external
  vantage point and may see or hear events such
  as the banter of a surgical team laboring to save
  the patients life that are later confirmed as
  an accurate memory of what transpired at the
  time. Some writers have pointed to this
  occurrence as evidence that a center of awareness
  a soul or self had actually detached
  itself from the unconscious body.

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• Numerous studies have shown, however, that
  comatose or anaesthetized people can remember
  information presented to them verbally, despite
  their unconscious state.

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• About one-quarter of the informants described a
  passage through darkness, which can take the
  form of floating along a tunnel toward a distant
  light. Although this element has become the
  stereotypic feature of the NDE in popular
  culture, it is, in fact, reported by a relatively
  small number of NDE informants.

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• Most surveys have found that about 25 of
  informants described a review of their lives
  flashing past during the NDE. This experience
  has been compared to viewing a film of ones
  existence since birth, very rapidly. Others have
  described a series of bright images of their
  lifes highlights and turning points.

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• A final common NDE element, noted by up to 54 of
  the informants in the surveys, is a visit to a
  heavenly realm. More frequently, splendid lawns
  and gardens are recalled palatial architecture
  has also been observed. These accounts resemble
  the descriptions given by people in the throes of
  DEATHBED VISIONS.

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• Most NDEs are said to end suddenly with the
  awakening of the informant. Sometimes, a figure
  in the otherworldly setting indicates the end of
  the experience by telling the informant to return
  to the body.

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• Viewing ones own body from without is extremely
  rare in Indian NDEs, and the panoramic life
  review is unknown. These comparative findings
  suggest that the experience itself, the
  remembering of it and/or the reporting of it is
  being crafted by the forces of personal
  expectation and need.

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• The lack of uniformity among NDEs poses problems
  for those who wish to take the NDE literally as a
  glimpse of the afterlife. Why would the
  otherworld change as a function of the
  informants century and society?

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Altered State of Consciousness?

• Whinnery hypoxia hypothesis and experimental
  replications of most but not all of typical NDE
  elements
• Blackmore the fovea and the primary visual
  cortex circuitry and blood supply, OBE elements
  due to sensory homunculus misfiring, life review
  from hippocampus misfiring
• Persinger the presence of others, movement from
  TLE like activity

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Other Terminology

• Blackmores hypothesis has been termed a sensory
  integration hypothesis
• Some writers have compared Blackmores positions
  to the hypothesis of REM dreaming known as
  activation synthesis hypothesis.
• Whinnerys and Blackmores arguments have been
  referred to neural noise hypotheses since both
  rely on the combination of confusing distorted
  sensory events in the brain

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Altered State of Consciousness?

• Kubler-Ross The NDE of an amputee involves the
  restoration of missing limbs But so do the
  dreams of amputees
• The hypoxic brain is also experiencing various
  chemical effects such as endorphins, ACh
  mechanisms implicated as in REM sleep and
  dreaming, glutamate mechanisms akin to some
  endogenous PPH agent