Near Death Experience: What Is Really Happening?
New study shows the complex electrochemistry of the dying brain
All the participants in the study I am going to tell you about this week died. And three of them died twice. But their deaths provide us a fascinating window into the complex electrochemistry of the dying brain. What we might be looking at, indeed, is the physiologic correlate of the near-death experience.
The concept of the near death experience is culturally ubiquitous.
And though the content seems to track along culture lines — Western Christians are more likely to report seeing guardian angels, while Hindus are more likely to report seeing messengers of the god of death, certain factors seem to transcend culture — an out of body experience, a feeling of peace, and of course the light at the end of the tunnel.
As a materialist, I won’t discuss the possibility that these commonalities reflect some metaphysical structure to the afterlife. More likely, it seems to me, is that the commonalities result from the fact that the experience is mediated by our brains, and our brains, when dying, may be more alike than different.
We are talking about this study, appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Jimo Borjigin and her team.
