In our endless effort to understand what happens to us after death, people have long taken near-death experiences (NDEs) as clues. People who have come close to death often claim to have seen and experienced life-changing events, such as the light at the end of a tunnel or meetings with deceased relatives. However, experts believe that the supernatural nature of these experiences can be explained scientifically.
The near-death experience is a very profound psychological event with mystical elements. It usually occurs in people who are near death or in situations of severe physical or emotional pain, but it can also occur after heart attacks and brain injuries, and even during meditation and fainting. Up to a third of people who came close to death report these extraordinary experiences.
A near-death experience is usually associated with feelings of contentment, mental detachment from the body (called out-of-body experiences), moving through a long dark tunnel, and stepping into bright light. Of course, a person's age and culture can significantly affect the type of experience. For example, in India, many people reported "meeting" Yama, the Hindu god of death and the dead. Americans say they saw Jesus, while the children talk about meeting friends and teachers.
The vast majority of reported cases are positive, which sometimes even helped reduce the fear of death. However, some near-death experiences are negative and involve feelings such as being out of control or awareness of non-existence and can evoke visions of hell.
Neuroscientists Olaf Blanke and Sebastian Dieguez have proposed two types of near-death experiences. The first type is associated with the left hemisphere of the brain and is characterized by an altered sense of time and the feeling of flying. The second type, encompassing the right hemisphere, is characterized by seeing or communicating with spirits and hearing voices, sounds, and music. While it's unclear why there are different types of near-death experiences, different interactions between brain regions produce these distinct experiences.
The temporal lobes play an important role in near-death experiences. This area of the brain is involved in the processing of sensory information and memory, so abnormal activity in these lobes can cause strange sensations and perceptions.
Despite several theories used to explain near-death experiences, getting to the bottom of what causes them is very difficult. Religious people believe that near-death experiences provide evidence for life after death - specifically, the separation of the soul from the body. In turn, the scientific explanations for near-death experiences include depersonalization, which is the feeling of being disconnected from the body. The American astronomer, science writer, and writer Carl Sagan have even suggested that the stress of death evokes memories of birth, suggesting that the "tunnel" phenomenon is a reimagining of the birth canal.
However, due to the fanciful nature of these theories, other explanations have emerged. Some researchers argue that the release of endorphins during stressful events can trigger a near-death experience, especially by reducing pain and increasing pleasant sensations. Anesthetics such as ketamine can also simulate features inherent in the near-death phenomenon, such as out-of-body experiences.
Other theories suggest that near-death experiences stem from dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a psychedelic drug that occurs naturally in some plants. Rick Strassman, a professor of psychiatry, observed in a 1990-1995 study that people had mystical and near-death experiences after being injected with DMT. According to Strassman, the body naturally produces DMT at birth and death, but there is no conclusive evidence to support this view. Overall, chemical theories are imprecise and cannot explain the full range of phenomena associated with near-death experiences.
The researchers also explained the near-death experiences of brain hypoxia. One researcher found that airplane pilots who experienced unconsciousness during rapid acceleration reported near-death experiences, such as tunnel vision. Lack of oxygen can also cause temporal epilepsy, which leads to hallucinations. These hallucinations can be akin to near-death experiences.
The most common explanation for near-death experiences is the dying brain hypothesis, which suggests that NDE phenomena are hallucinations, triggered by activity in the brain as cells begin to die. This is happening in a crisis situation, which would explain the accounts of the survivors of the catastrophes. The problem with this theory, while plausible, is that it does not explain the full range of characteristics that may be present in near-death experiences, such as out-of-body experiences.
Currently, there is no unequivocal explanation for the NDE phenomenon. Scientists are still doing research and trying to understand this enigmatic phenomenon. Whether they are paranormal or not, near-death experiences are extremely important - they give many people meanings, hopes, and goals while also appreciating the human desire to "survive" death.
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