Near-death experiences according to science

17% of people who almost died report having had near-death experiences (ECM) (Zingrone and Alvarado, 2009). These types of experiences have been reported by people from all over the world regardless of age and creed: children, adults, scientists, doctors, religious people, atheists…

Although not all NDEs are identical, there are some common features in all of them: seeing and hearing outside the body, passing through a tunnel, finding a mystical light, feeling intense emotions. There are also those who claim that they have had encounters with loved ones who have died and that they have had the possibility of choosing to return to this earthly life.

What are near-death experiences?

They are lucid events that occur when an individual is faced with a threat that seriously puts his or her life at risk.. Near-death experiences are generally due to events that involve an imminent risk of dying, such as severe contusion, myocardial infarction, asphyxiation, shock, etc.

Greyson and Stevenson (1980) found that of 78 cases of NDE, 40% occurred during illness, 37% in traumatic accidents, 13% from surgery, 7% during childbirth (7%), and 4% from drug’s use. After an NDE, substantial changes occur in the perception of self and significant alterations in the way people live and face their existence.

Some of these changes are the following:

Loss of fear of death. Feeling of being favored by God. Living according to a new meaning or purpose in life. Increased self-esteem. Greater appreciation for life. Increased spirituality. Greater attention to the present.

In fact, people relate to others differently, they are more compassionate and loving, They have a greater desire to help and care less about material gains, recognition, or public status.

Characteristic elements of near-death experiences

NDEs may include some of the following 12 components:

Out-of-body experiences, that is, the separation of consciousness from the physical body. Increased sensory perception.Intense and positive emotions.Travel through a tunnel.The encounter with a bright and mystical light.Meeting with mystical beings or deceased family and friends. Alteration in the perception of time and space.Life review.Observation of indescribable celestial landscapes. Learning special knowledge. Encountering a barrier or limit.Voluntary or involuntary return to the physical body.

It is necessary to clarify that not all near-death experiences are associated with positive feelings; some of them are marked by intense terror, feelings of guilt, panic, loneliness and despair.

Near-death experiences according to science

What does it tell us about these atypical experiences? Research reveals that the areas involved in these types of experiences include: the occipital cortex, frontal lobes, hippocampus, basal ganglia, amygdala, and temporal-parietal junction (Saavedra-Aguilar and Gómez-Jeria, 1989).

When a person is dying, your brain stops receiving oxygen; a condition that facilitates the occurrence of the near-death experience we are talking about. In addition to this, general anesthesia and substances, such as ketamine, LSD, and cannabinoids, can lead to experiences of joy, visual hallucinations, tunnel vision, and transcendental feelings.

In a study conducted by Blanke, et al. (2002), an induction of an NDE was reported through electrical stimulation of the right angular gyrus of a patient who was being evaluated for right temporal lobe epilepsy. When that region of the brain was stimulated, the patient stated that she was “sinking into the bed” or “falling from above.”

By increasing the intensity of the electrical stimulus, she said: “I see myself lying in bed, from above, but I only see my legs and the lower part of my trunk.” When the patient was asked to observe her legs during the electrical stimulation, she reported that they were “getting shorter.”

Going slightly outside the field of neurobiology, psychological interpretations of near-death experiences have also been proposed. The expectation hypothesis states that NDEs are the product of altered mental states produced by life-threatening conditions.. These states trigger the phenomenology of NDEs as a projection of beliefs and expectations from the afterlife.

It appears that near-death experiences are induced by pharmacological agents, epileptic discharges, brain stimulation. However, there are people who report these experiences, despite having had a complete loss of brain function. Under these conditions, are these near-death events perceptions of what possibly lies beyond our understanding and our world?

You might be interested…