In our never-ending quest to understand what happens to us after death, people have long viewed the rare phenomenon of clinical death as something that can give them some answers to important questions.
People who have experienced near-death experiences with one foot in the grave often report unusual experiences. And there are quite a few such people.
Reportedly, almost one in three resuscitation survivors saw a bright light, their deceased relatives "on the other side" or even a previously deceased favorite pet.
But despite the frequency of these messages, science has not yet been able to clearly explain what these people actually saw. Were these "ficuses" of an oxygen-starved brain, or is there really something on the other side?
Researchers at the University of Liege in Belgium collected and analyzed written reports from 154 people who went through clinical death and saw unusual phenomena. …
Analysis of the reports showed that each person experienced about four different phenomena during their experience.
The most frequently reported feelings of peace (80 percent of participants), bright lights (69 percent), and meeting with deceased relatives (64 percent). And least of all (5%) experienced rushing thoughts and saw prophetic visions (4%).
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Visions are influenced by the culture and age of the patients. This is how Hindus after death see the Hindu god of death, and Christians see Jesus Christ. And children more often meet “friends” and “teachers” in a bright glow.
Usually the experience of such visions is positive. People stop fearing death and their general anxiety decreases and they become more cheerful. The same cannot be said about those few who were "lucky" to see what can be called Hell.
Neuroscientists Olaf Blank and Sebastian Diguez offer two types of near-death experiences. The first is somehow connected with the left hemisphere of the brain, with the peculiarities of the altered sense of time and the impression of flight. The second involves the right hemisphere, in which they see and communicate with souls, hear voices, other sounds or music.
It is not yet clear why there are different types of near-death experiences and how exactly different interactions between brain regions produce these experiences.
Temporal lobes also play an important role in near-death vision. This area of the brain is involved in processing sensory information and memory, and abnormal activity in this lobe can produce strange sensations and perceptions.
Despite several scientific theories used to explain clinical death, it is very difficult to get to the bottom of this phenomenon.
Religious people believe that near-death experiences are evidence of life after death - in particular, the separation of spirit from body. While the scientific explanations of clinical death operate with such a brain trick as depersonalization, from which a person has a feeling of separation from his body.
Scientist Carl Sagan even once suggested that the stress of death automatically reproduces the memory of birth, which is why a person supposedly sees a "tunnel" (birth canal) and the light at the end of it.
There is also a theory of endorphins. Some researchers have argued that endorphins ("happiness hormones") released during stressful events can produce what feels like near-death experiences, in particular, they are responsible for reducing pain and increasing pleasant sensations.
It is because of endorphins, as they say, that a person who is at the very edge of life no longer feels pain, even if his whole body is wounded.
There is also a theory that the near-death experience is influenced by anesthetics such as ketamine, causing hallucinations.
Other theories suggest that the near-death experience is due to dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a psychedelic drug that occurs naturally in some plants.
Rick Strassman, professor of psychiatry, observed from 1990 to 1995 that people had near-death and mystical experiences after being injected with DMT. According to Strassmann, the body has a natural source of DMT, secreted at birth and death.
However, there is no conclusive evidence to support this view. In general, theories about chemical exposure lack precision and cannot explain the very wide spectrum of near-death experiences.
Some researchers attribute the near-death experience to a lack of oxygen in the brain. One researcher found aerial pilots who experienced loss of consciousness during rapid acceleration and described visions similar to those seen in a near-death experience.
Lack of oxygen can actually cause hallucinations, and they can be like a near-death experience.
But the most common explanation for near-death experiences is the dying brain hypothesis. This theory suggests that near-death experiences are hallucinations caused by the death of brain cells.
The problem with this seemingly plausible theory is that it also fails to account for the wide range of possibilities that can arise during near-death experiences, such as exiting your body and flying over it under the ceiling.
Currently, there is no unambiguous explanation why survivors of clinical death observed near-death phenomena. But more and more modern researchers are trying to study this phenomenon.
Whether it is something paranormal or purely physiological, the near-death experience is very important to us. It gives meaning to life, hope and purpose for many people, offering appreciation to the human desire to survive after death.
The authors of this article are psychologist Neil Dagnall of the University of Manchester and Ken Drinkwater, professor of cognitive psychology and parapsychologist at the same University of Manchester.